PRIME MINISTER

Departmental Internet

John Mann: To ask the Prime Minister for what reasons the transparency pages in respect of Ministers' meetings and hospitality on the 10 Downing street website have not been updated since September 2010; and what procedures he has put in place to ensure that the pages are regularly updated.

David Cameron: The Government are publishing details of Ministers' meetings, hospitality, overseas travel, and gifts given and received over £140 on a quarterly basis in accordance with the new Ministerial Code. Information for the period August to September was published in December 2010. Information for the period October to December will be published very shortly.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Third Sector

Chris Ruane: To ask the Leader of the House how much his Office provided to each charity it funds in each of the last five years; and how much he has allocated for funding to each such charity in each of the next five years.

George Young: The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons does not directly provide funding to any charities.

WALES

Cyfanfyd: Finance

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions she has had with the Secretary for State for International Development on reductions to the budget of Cyfanfyd; and if she will make a statement.

David Jones: None. Notice of these reductions was given to Cyfanfyd in February 2010.
	DFID provides funding for a range of development education projects throughout the UK, including in Wales. DFID's funding for programmes to raise awareness of international development, and for development education, is currently being reviewed.
	DFID is continuing to engage with the development education sector in Wales, and will consider options for further funding following the results of the review.

Departmental Official Hospitality

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales pursuant to the answer of 14 March 2011,  Official Report, column 1W, on St David's day, what the name is of each person who was invited to her St David's day event at Gwydyr house on 1 March 2011.

Cheryl Gillan: I have no plans to release this information.

Departmental Plants

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much her Department has spent on indoor and outdoor plants and trees since her appointment.

David Jones: Since May 2010, the Wales Office has spent £20 on indoor plants. No other plants or trees have been purchased.

Departmental Theft

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what items with a value of over £100 have been taken without authorisation from her Department since her appointment; and what steps have been taken to recover such items.

David Jones: None.

Stress

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what arrangements are in place in her Department to  (a) reduce levels of work-based stress and  (b) provide assistance to staff diagnosed with such stress.

David Jones: Staff in my Department follow policies and procedures set by the Ministry of Justice for any matters relating to work-based stress.

Third Sector

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much her Department provided to each charity it funds in each of the last five years; and how much she has allocated for funding to each such charity in each of the next five years.

David Jones: The Wales Office does not fund any charities.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Departmental Public Expenditure

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport whether he has carried out an impact assessment on the effects of reductions in his Department's administration costs on frontline services.

Jeremy Hunt: In the spending review settlement for 2011-12 to 2014-15, I preserved as far as possible expenditure on front line services to secure delivery of the Department's key priorities. I am confident that the larger reduction in the Department's administrative costs can be achieved without jeopardising that delivery.

SCOTLAND

Departmental Redundancy

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many civil servants in his Department have been offered voluntary redundancy since April 2010; and if he will make a statement.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office does not employ staff directly. All its staff are on secondment from other public bodies, mainly the Ministry of Justice and the Scottish Government. Both the Ministry of Justice and the Scottish Government recently launched voluntary early departure schemes which were open to all their staff.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Alcoholic Drinks

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department has spent on the contents of ministerial drinks cabinets since 12 May 2010.

Owen Paterson: The Northern Ireland Office does not have ministerial drinks cabinets.

Departmental Plants

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department has spent on indoor and outdoor plants and trees since his appointment.

Owen Paterson: Where possible the Northern Ireland Office uses plants grown at Hillsborough castle which is part of the departmental estate. The expenditure on indoor and outdoor plants and trees since May 2010 is £4,120.47.
	£1,428.65 of this spend relates to plants provided for the annual Royal Garden Party in Northern Ireland which was attended by over 2,500 people to recognise their contribution to local communities across Northern Ireland. A further £1,403.63 was spent on stock plants to maintain the grounds at Hillsborough castle. These plants can be used in-house for a number of years, further reducing the Department's year-on-year costs.

Departmental Redundancy

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many civil servants in his Department have been offered voluntary redundancy since April 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Owen Paterson: No civil servants in my Department have been offered voluntary redundancy since April 2010.

Departmental Theft

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what items with a value of over £100 have been taken without authorisation from his Department since his appointment; and what steps have been taken to recover such items.

Owen Paterson: No items have been taken without authorisation from the Northern Ireland Office.

Stress

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what arrangements are in place in his Department to  (a) reduce levels of work-based stress and  (b) provide assistance to staff diagnosed with such stress.

Owen Paterson: Staff in my Department follow policies and procedures in all HR matters as set by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). Ministry of Justice policies mandate that:
	An assessment is made of the risks to employee health from stress and other psychological hazards;
	procedures are implemented to manage and mitigate those risks; and
	support is provided for staff experiencing stress or psychological harm as a result of their work.
	Managers and staff share responsibility for assessing and managing stress at work. MoJ provides detailed guidance on how these actions should be carried out and the arrangements which should be followed; this also applies with regard to staff who are exposed to potentially traumatising incidents.
	Managers and staff have access to support through occupational health and employee assistance services, which include confidential counselling and other psychological therapeutic interventions as appropriate. Managers must consider referral to occupational health services in all cases where staff are absent through sickness with stress related problems.

Third Sector

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department provided to each charity it funds in each of the last five years; and how much he has allocated for funding to each such charity in each of the next five years.

Owen Paterson: Comparable figures for the Department as it is now configured are not available following the completion of devolution of policing and justice functions on 12 April 2010. Since 12 April 2010, my Department has made a grant to two charities:
	
		
			   £ 
			 Army Benevolent Fund 23,000 
			 UDR Benevolent Fund 62,000

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Preventing Violent Extremism Programme

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what records  (a) his Department and  (b) Government Offices the Regions hold on the expenditure by local authorities of Preventing Violent Extremism programme funding allocated to them; and what requirements there were on recipient local authorities to inform his Department of the (i) planned and (ii) actual use of the funds.

Andrew Stunell: Local authorities undertaking Prevent activity have been funded through the non ring-fenced Area Based Grant. In line with arrangements for non ring-fenced funding, Government Departments and Government offices have not required local authorities to inform them of local funding decisions. We note the criticism of the Communities and Local Government Select Committee in March 2010 over the monitoring and evaluation of the Prevent programme.
	My Department is currently developing a new approach to promote integration and participation.

Alcoholic Drinks: Prices

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what legal advice he has received on the introduction of an  (a) voluntary and  (b) mandatory minimum price for alcohol.

Bob Neill: Alcohol pricing policy is led by the Home Office.

Departmental Plants

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department has spent on indoor and outdoor plants and trees since his appointment.

Bob Neill: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Cannock Chase (Mr Burley) on 1 February 2011,  Official Report, columns 743-44W.

Departmental Public Bodies

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans he has to reduce the number of public bodies within his Department's area of responsibility.

Bob Neill: Four of the Department's arm's length bodies have already been closed and a programme of reform is in place which will see another 12 either closed or transferred to the private or voluntary sector by 2012. These were set out in the Government's Public Bodies Review published on the 14 October last year, and confirmed on 16 March 2011 as part of in the Government's response to the Public Administration Select Committee report 'Smaller Government: Shrinking the Quango State'. The relevant documents can be found at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/public-bodies-reform-proposals-change

Electoral Reform Services

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many contracts for electoral administration services of what monetary value his Department and its predecessors had with  (a) Electoral Reform Services and  (b) each other provider in (i) 1992, (ii) 1997, (iii) 2002 and (iv) 2007.

Mark Harper: I have been asked to reply.
	The Cabinet Office acquired responsibility for policy on the conduct of certain statutory elections in June 2010. Prior to that policy sat with the Ministry of Justice and its predecessor Department, the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA): policy on UK-wide elections moved to the DCA in June 2003 with the policy for local elections following in 2005. Prior to June 2003 elections policy sat with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (now the Department for Communities and Local Government). From 2001 the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions had this responsibility. Before 2000, it rested with the Home Office.
	I can confirm that  (a) there were no contracts for electoral administration services between the Government Departments responsible for electoral policy in 2002 and 2007 and Electoral Reform Services. Establishing the position for 1992 and 1997 could be established only at disproportionate cost;  (b) establishing what contracts the relevant Departments had in each of those years with other providers of electoral administration services could be established only at disproportionate cost.

Flood Control

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans he has for the future provision of flood prevention services previously provided through the Government office network; and what assessment he has made of the effects on flood prevention services of the closure of that network.

Bob Neill: The Government office network contribution to flood risk management has previously been in respect of the building of resilience and supporting local agencies responding to flooding emergencies.
	With the abolition of the Government office network the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), in consultation with other Departments, is developing a new model for resilience, building on the work and the relationships already developed.
	The core DCLG resilience role is to support the Government in responding to national emergencies, and to support local responders in planning, preparing and responding to emergencies.
	DCLG are putting in place a new approach to resilience, reflecting the coalition priorities for localism, decentralisation and big society and to end the forced regionalisation of services.

Government Offices for the Regions: Buildings

Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans he has for the future use of buildings used by the Government Office network.

Bob Neill: In advance of their abolition on the 31 March 2011, the Department for Communities and Local Government's estate strategy is focused on arranging disposal or future re-use of the Government offices for the regions' property portfolio.
	This work will reduce the size of the portfolio from 14 buildings currently to 10 buildings by the end of 2011-12 and down to seven by the end of the spending review period. The retained buildings will be re-used by a range of Government Departments and agencies.

Local Government Finance

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much each local authority received from each  (a) revenue and  (b) capital funding stream from his Department in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; what the total funding allocated by such streams was in each year; and what the change was in the level of funding in (A) cash and (B) real terms.

Bob Neill: holding answer 18 March 2011
	I have today placed details of allocations made so far to individual authorities in the Library of the House. These reflect our success in un-ringfencing and simplifying funding streams-the Government are rolling around £4 billion of grants in 2010-11 into the unhypothecated formula grant by 2014-15, and the number of separate core grants for local government reduces from over 90 to fewer than 10.
	The total of grant funding allocated directly from this Department to all local and fire authorities in 2010-11 so far is £28.3 billion revenue and £0.639 billion capital. The total allocated so far in 2011-12 is £25.2 billion revenue and £0.248 billion capital.
	These figures do not provide the basis for a like-for-like comparison of the change in funding between the two years because (a) we do not yet have the full picture of funding for 2011-12, with more announcements to be made; and (b) there have been changes in methodology between the two years.
	For example, the 2010-11 private finance initiative revenue funding includes allocations made by this Department on behalf of other Government Departments. From 2011-12, each Department will provide revenue funding from its own Departmental Expenditure Limit to support private finance initiative schemes relating to services for which it has policy responsibility. Therefore, the figures for private finance initiative funding 2011-12 only cover the allocations in respect of schemes for which this Department has responsibility. As a result, the figures imply there has been a £766 million reduction, when there has actually been an increase in private finance initiative revenue funding.
	A better measure of the impact on local authorities is changes to revenue spending power published on 31 January 2011. We have made sure that no local authority will see a reduction in spending power of more than 8.8% in either 2011-12 or 2012-13. This information is available on our website at:
	http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1112/grant.htm

Regional Development Agencies: Assets

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 17 March 2011,  Official Report, column 593W, on departmental public expenditure, whether income from the disposal of the assets of regional development agencies in 2013-14 will be directed to the geographic localities in which such assets were situated.

Bob Neill: Income from the disposal of the assets of regional development agencies in 2013-14 will support the Departments' housing and regeneration initiatives in different parts of the country, including those in which assets were situated.
	As an illustration for my Department's support for housing and regeneration in Newcastle, I would point the hon. Member to my Department's press notice of 10 March 2011 on the Byker Estate and the writing off of up to £42 million of local housing debt by the Government:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/communities/1861951

Social Rented Housing

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his policy is on the promotion of social mobility through reducing levels of under-occupation of social housing.

Andrew Stunell: In January the Minister for Housing and Local Government, the right hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) announced a £13 million programme to help under-occupying social tenants who wish to move. While no tenant will be forced to move, many tenants welcome the offer of support to find a home that better suits their needs. Helping under-occupiers to move will often free up a larger home for other tenants, including those who have been overcrowded.
	Our radical reforms to tenure, mobility and the rules on allocating social housing, together with the introduction of a national home-swap scheme, will provide local authorities with tools to address under-occupation and to help support greater mobility among social tenants.

Squatting

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many buildings on his Department's estate were occupied by squatters in each year between 2006 and 2010; and on how many occasions his Department sought interim possession orders to remove squatters from such buildings in each of those years.

Bob Neill: There have been no instances of squatting in any of the central departmental estate properties during the period in question.

Stress

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what arrangements are in place in his Department to  (a) reduce levels of work-based stress and  (b) provide assistance to staff diagnosed with such stress.

Bob Neill: The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) currently has the following measures in place to reduce levels of work related stress:
	a stress at work policy;
	a contract with Health Management Ltd. for the provision of an occupational health service;
	an enhanced Employee Assistance Programme delivered through Right CoreCare. This service offers advice on a range of issues such as health and well-being, debt, work and career issues, relationship and emotional concerns and legal information; and
	a programme of workshops, presentations and training courses for staff and line managers covering a range of issues both directly and indirectly related to the management of stress. These cover financial advice, job search, managing change and completing application forms, as well as general support from the Department's Employee Assistance Programme.
	When a member of DCLG staff is diagnosed with work-based stress either by their GP or the Department's Occupational Health Adviser, he or she is referred by their line manager or HR to the Employee Assistance Programme. Where appropriate, the line manager will also conduct a stress risk assessment in line with the Health and Safety Executive Stress Management Standards and put in place any adjustments recommended by the GP or the Occupational Health Adviser.

Third Sector

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department provided to each charity it funds in each of the last five years; and how much he has allocated for funding to each such charity in each of the next five years.

Bob Neill: The Department's records do not differentiate between payments made to charities and other voluntary and community sector organisations. A list of payments made under section 70 of the Charities Act 2006 to charities and voluntary groups is published in the Department's annual report and resource accounts on a yearly basis.
	This information includes payments made by the Department to charities in each year. Departmental annual reports and resource accounts for each year are published on the Department's website. Grant spending over £500 since 2008-09 is also published on the website as part of my Department's broader transparency agenda.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he plans to answer question 35814 tabled on 19 January 2011 for answer on 21 January 2011 on London borough councils.

Bob Neill: I will reply to the hon. Member in due course with a substantive and comprehensive answer on the representations and the steps we have taken to address them.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Alcoholic Drinks

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department has spent on the contents of ministerial drinks cabinets since 12 May 2010.

Damian Green: No money has been spent by the Home Department on the contents of ministerial drinks cabinets since 12 May 2010.

Asylum: Finance

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations she has received on the future funding of charities which support asylum seekers.

Damian Green: My officials and I have received a number of letters from MPs and other interested parties on this issue.

Crime

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research her Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on any relationship between levels of street lighting and levels of crime.

James Brokenshire: In 2002 the Home Office commissioned and published a systematic review of existing research evidence on the effects of improved street lighting. This can be found on the Home Office website at:
	http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/hors251.pdf
	The report analysed eight US studies and five British studies and concluded that the evidence showed that improved street lighting reduced crime. An updated review of the evidence by the same authors published in 2008 by the Campbell Collaboration came to the same conclusion. This can be found via the following link:
	http://www.campbellcollaboration.org/news_/improved_street_lighting_reduce_crime.php

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department has spent on  (a) salaries and  (b) pension entitlements for special advisers in the financial year 2010-11 to date.

Damian Green: Data sets which outline the number and cost of special advisers at specified dates are published quarterly on the Cabinet Office website.
	The latest list, which includes an estimate of the total pay bill costs for 2010-11, was published on 10 March 2011 and can be accessed via the following link:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/special-adviser-data-releases
	This estimated pay bill includes pension costs.
	Details of pension arrangements for special advisers are set out in the Model contract for Special Advisers, which can also be accessed on the Cabinet Office website.

Drugs: Crime

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment her Department has made of the effect on demand of trends in the street price of hard drugs.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has not commissioned or evaluated research on the relationship between trends in the street price of hard drugs and the effect on demand.
	Street prices of drugs vary considerably and are dependent on a number of factors such as availability and purity. Trends in prevalence of drug use in the general population are measured through the British Crime Survey and data for 2010-11 will be available in July 2011. Findings from the 2009-10 survey show that levels of last year Class A use among adults aged 16 to 59 were 3.1% in 2009-10 (around 1 million adults), which is lower than in 2008-09 (3.7%) and at similar levels to 1996 (2.7%).

Drugs: Young People

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effects of reductions in local government spending on levels of drug abuse among young people; and if she will make a statement.

Sarah Teather: I have been asked to reply.
	As the National Drug Strategy, published in December 2010, makes clear, local authorities are best placed to decide what services are required for preventing drug and alcohol misuse amongst young people in their area, and for intervening early when young people start to develop problems.
	The Early Intervention Grant allows local authorities the flexibility to develop the most appropriate approach to supporting vulnerable young people, including those at risk of substance misuse. Alongside this, the Young People's Pooled Treatment Budget which has been maintained at £25.4 million for 2011-12 provides funding for specialist substance misuse services for young people.

Entry Clearances: Multinational Companies

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visa applications for intra-company transfers were  (a) approved and  (b) rejected in each year since 2009.

Damian Green: In 2009, 22,029 intra-company transfer visa applications were issued and 1,171 were refused. In 2010, 29,176 were issued and 1,106 were refused.
	
		
			   2009  2010 
			 Issued 22,029 29,176 
			 Refused 1,171 1,106 
			  Note: The data are based on management information. They are provisional and subject to change.  Source: CRS

Gangs

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in implementing the recommendations of the joint thematic review on the management of gang issues published in June 2010.

Crispin Blunt: I have been asked to reply.
	The report raises important issues about how we tackle gangs both at local and national level. We are considering our response in the light of the Government's focus on greater local accountability and the need to develop local solutions based on local needs. We are committed to working with partners to tackle gang-related crime and provide support to help people leave the gang lifestyle.

Plants

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department has spent on indoor and outdoor plants and trees since her appointment.

Damian Green: A limited amount of planting is provided through the 2002 PFI contract in some of the internal and external shared areas of our headquarters building, the costs of which are not charged separately. Elsewhere on the Department's estate figures on plants and trees costs are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Third Sector

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department provided to each charity it funds in each of the last five years; and how much she has allocated for funding to each such charity in each of the next five years.

Damian Green: Although the Home Office and UK Border Agency have made grant payments to fund charitable organisations over the past five years and may continue to do so in the future, it would not be possible to fully answer this question to the level of detail required without incurring disproportionate cost. To do so would require investigating more than 300 not-for-profit recipients, and identifying whether they, in turn, make payments to charities as a lead partner.
	As with all grant funding in the Home Office and agencies, grants paid to charities are monitored to ensure that recipients deliver the objectives of individual projects as well as contributing to the strategic aims of the Department.
	The Criminal Records Bureau and the Identity and Passport Service have not provided any funding to charities over the previous five years and have not allocated any budget to fund charities over the spending review period.

TRANSPORT

Cycling: Brighton

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has had discussions with Brighton and Hove city council on its proposal to use the Transport and Maintenance (LTP) capital grant to remove cycle lanes along both sides of Grand Avenue and The Drive; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Baker: Neither the Secretary of State for Transport nor I have had discussions with Brighton and Hove city council on its proposal to use the Transport and Maintenance (LTP) capital grant to remove cycle lanes along both sides of Grand Avenue and The Drive. Cycling England is following up this issue with Brighton and Hove city council at present. It is for local communities to decide how best to invest local funds.

Departmental Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which public bodies sponsored by his Department  (a) have been and  (b) are to be closed, merged or reorganised following his appointment; and how many (i) women and (ii) men who are public appointees at each body will no longer hold such an appointment in consequence.

Norman Baker: The coalition Government are committed to increasing the accountability of public bodies, and this involves reducing their number and their cost to the taxpayer. The proposals for the majority of bodies across all Departments were announced and published on 14 October 2010. An updated list reflecting changes since October 2010 has been published on the Cabinet Office website this month.
	Summary information on public appointments is published annually by the Cabinet Office. This includes data on gender. Copies of the most recent report can be downloaded from:
	www.civilservice.gov.uk/ndpb

Driving Offences: Mobile Phones

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road accidents were caused by the driver using a mobile telephone in each of the last two years for which figures are available; how many  (a) males and  (b) females in each age group (i) were killed, (ii) were seriously injured and (iii) received minor injuries; and how many such people had been travelling in the vehicle as (A) the driver, (B) a front seat passenger and (C) a rear seat passenger.

Michael Penning: There were 323 reported personal injury road accidents in Great Britain in 2008, where a police officer attended the scene and "driver using mobile phone" was reported as a contributory factor.
	The corresponding figure for 2009 was 325 reported accidents. This contributory factor includes 'hand held' and 'hands free' phones, where their use (or attempted use) contributed to the accident.
	Further information requested is given in tables 1 to 3.
	
		
			  Table 1: Casualties in reported road accidents where the contributory factor "driver using mobile phone" was reported, by gender and age, GB: 2008-09 
			Number of casualties 
			  Year of accident  Age of casualty  (a) Male  (b) Female  Total 
			 2008 0-15 15 14 29 
			  15-24 69 56 125 
			  25-64 193 113 306 
			  >65 16 11 27 
			  All ages(1) 295 194 489 
			  
			 2009 0-15 22 17 39 
			  15-24 60 61 121 
			  25-64 178 145 323 
			  >65 10 9 19 
			  All ages(1) 273 236 509 
			 (1) Includes cases where age was not reported. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Casualties in reported road accidents where the contributory factor "driver using mobile phone" was reported, by severity, GB: 2008-09 
			   Severity of casualties 
			  Year of accident  (i) Killed  Serious  (iii) Slight  All severities 
			 2008 19 71 399 489 
			 2009 15 68 426 509 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Casualties in reported road accidents where the contributory factor "driver using mobile phone" was reported, by casualty class, GB: 2008-09 
			   Vehicles with a contributory factor of "driver using mobile phone" 
			   Car occupants  Other vehicle occupants 
			  Year of accident  (A) Driver  (B) Front seat  passenger( 1)  (C) Rear seat  passenger( 1)  (A Driver or rider  (B+C) Passenger  Other casualties( 2) 
			 2008 137 15 11 39 3 284 
			 2009 137 21 21 20 3 307 
			 (1) Seat positions can only be identified for car passengers. (2) Includes pedestrians and occupants of other vehicles for which this contributory factor was not reported.

Driving Offences: Mobile Phones

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has made a recent estimate of the number of drivers of each (a) sex and  (b) age group who regularly use a mobile telephone whilst driving; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Penning: Questions about frequency of using a hand-held mobile phone to speak or text while driving were asked as part of a survey of attitudes to road safety in 2010, with results available broken down by age and gender. The results of this survey are available on the DFT website:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/research/rsrr/theme5/natcen2010survey/

Driving Tests: Yeovil

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made in identifying a new site for a practical driving test centre in Yeovil; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Penning: The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) has identified alternative premises in Yeovil from which to deliver driving tests. Terms are provisionally agreed and the agency expects to legally secure the premises by 1 June 2011.

Large Goods Vehicles

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the  (a) number and  (b) proportion of heavy goods vehicles registered overseas which used roads in England in each of the last five years.

Michael Penning: holding answer 18 March 2011
	According to the Department for Transport's "Survey of Foreign Road Goods Vehicles United Kingdom 2009", there were 1,459,600 trips to the United Kingdom by foreign registered HGVs in 2009.
	They are estimated to have travelled 0.948 billion vehicle kilometres in the UK in 2009, which is 4.8% of the 18.8 billion vehicle kilometres driven by UK-registered HGVs. Separate figures for England are not available.
	Foreign-registered HGV statistics for the years 2000 and 2003 can be found on the DfT website. Statistics have not been compiled for other years.

Motor Vehicles: Safety Belts

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has made an estimate of the number of  (a) males and  (b) females in each age group who regularly (i) wear and (ii) do not wear a seat belt in the (A) front and (B) rear seats; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Penning: Estimates of the proportion of male and female car occupants (i) wearing and (ii) not wearing a seatbelt in observational surveys carried out in 2009 are shown in the following table, broken down by age group and seating position.
	
		
			  Proportion of car occupants (i) wearing and (ii) not wearing a seatbelt or other restraint, weekdays: Department for Transport observational surveys, November 2009 
			Male  Female 
			   Age  % w earing  % n ot wearing  % w earing  % n ot wearing 
			 Driver 17 to 29 92 8 96 4 
			  30 to 59 93 7 98 2 
			  60+ 95 5 99 1 
			  All 93 7 98 2 
			   
			 Front seat passenger 0 to 13 91 9 99 1 
			  14 to 29 88 12 94 6 
			  30 to 59 93 7 97 3 
			  60+ 97 3 98 2 
			  All 92 8 97 3 
			   
			 Rear seat passenger 0 to 4 100 0 100 0 
			  5 to 9 96 4 97 3 
			  10 to 13 91 9 93 7 
			  14+ 78 22 79 21 
			  All 89 11 90 10 
		
	
	Questions about frequency of not wearing a seatbelt as a driver and as a passenger were asked as part of a survey of attitudes to road safety in 2010, with results available broken down by age and gender. The results of this survey are available on the DfT website:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/research/rsrr/theme5/natcen2010survey/

Motorways: Speed Limits

John Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of  (a) the likely cost to the public purse of increasing the motorway speed limit to 80mph and  (b) the effect of such an increase on the annual number of road deaths.

Michael Penning: No estimate has yet been made by the present Administration of the likely costs and impacts of increasing the motorway speed limit to 80 mph. Any such estimation would be considered as part of the implementation of our new road safety strategy, which we expect to publish in May.

Railways: Electrification

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has had discussions with representatives of Network Rail on the upgrading of the electrified third rail on south east rail lines; and if he will make a statement.

Theresa Villiers: I meet regularly with senior representatives of Network Rail and the train operators to review operational performance. These meetings have included discussion about the operation of the 'top contact' third rail electrification system during severe winter weather. The rail industry is currently looking at ways of making the network more resilient in such conditions.

Railways: Finance

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 28 February 2011,  Official Report, columns 17-18WS, on local and regional rail services, what estimate his Department has made of the effects on rail overcrowding of changes to funding arrangements for local rail schemes up to April 2015.

Theresa Villiers: The changes in funding arrangements will have no impact on overcrowding as the services funded by local authorities and Passenger Transport Executives (PTEs) operate on lightly used routes or at quieter times of day.

Renewable Fuels Agency

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many employees the Renewable Fuels Agency has; and what the cost to his Department of that body was in each of the last three years.

Norman Baker: The Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA) currently employs 12 staff and is carrying two vacancies. The RFA's budget in 2010-11 was £1.75 million. This has subsequently been reduced to £1.57 million. In financial years 2009-10 and 2008-09 the RFA was funded as now by grant in aid from the Department for Transport and the costs were £1.36 million and £1.32 million respectively in those years.

Roads: Accidents

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has assessed the merits of introducing stricter liability rules for drivers involved in collisions with pedestrians and cyclists for the purposes of making it easier for victims of negligent drivers to claim compensation.

Michael Penning: I do not consider that there is merit in a change from the current arrangements in favour of stricter liability. The general principle in considering negligence is that the victim needs to prove that the defendant's actions caused the accident. It would be an anomaly if this was changed for collisions with pedestrians and cyclists. Also, it could lead to unfair results in cases where the motorist is driving entirely responsibly and the accident is caused by the irresponsible or negligent behaviour of a cyclist or pedestrian.

Roads: Accidents

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many pregnant women in each age group were  (a) killed,  (b) severely injured and  (c) slightly injured in road accidents when travelling in the vehicle as (i) the driver, (ii) a front seat passenger and (iii) a rear seat passenger in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and how many were (A) wearing and (B) not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.

Michael Penning: The information requested is not available. Information on whether the women involved in accidents are pregnant is not routinely collected by the police.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much funding his Department has allocated to each local authority for road improvement in each year since 1997.

Norman Baker: The Department for Transport provides local authorities outside of London with Integrated Transport Block funding for small scale transport schemes; Highway Maintenance Block funding for maintenance of local highways; and Major Project funding for transport schemes over £5 million. Integrated Transport Block and Major Project funding is not solely dedicated to road improvements and Highway Maintenance Block funding is for structures (e.g. bridges and street lighting) as well as roads.
	Local authority funding allocations for the Integrated Transport and Highway Maintenance blocks for the period 2000-01 to 2010-11 are available on the Department's website at:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/regional/localauthorities/funding/fundingstreams/
	Different funding arrangements were in place for both funding streams before 2000-01.
	Major scheme funding by local authority in relation to road projects for the period 2006-07 to 2009-10 is outlined in the following table. Data before 2006-07 is not available.
	
		
			  Major scheme spend 
			  £000 
			  Authority  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			 Barnsley metropolitan borough council 0 0 4,156 12,456 
			 Bedfordshire county council 0 2,000 0 0 
			 Birmingham city council 15,446 5,950 2,518 10,395 
			 Buckinghamshire county council 22,658 11,705 0 0 
			 Central Bedfordshire council 8,825 6,655 2,547 171 
			 Cheshire East borough council 0 0 4,881 24,181 
			 Darlington borough council 2,153 6,199 4,070 0 
			 Derby city council 2,513 0 2,460 9,499 
			 Derbyshire county council 11,960 3,575 8,900 425 
			 Devon county council 11,410 1,124 1,000 0 
			 Dorset county council 0 0 17,628 28,831 
			 Dudley metropolitan borough council 2,126 8,819 7,320 4,559 
			 Durham county council 300 6,069 4,084 347 
			 Essex county council 0 1,200 0 4,600 
			 Hertfordshire county council 3,250 1,300 763 602 
			 Kent county council 10,000 1,000 374 17,956 
			 Leeds city council 28,484 12,557 8,725 263 
			 Leicestershire county council 0 6,341 9,662 39 
			 Lincolnshire county council 5,825 7,975 29,937 33,436 
			 Liverpool city council 0 0 0 4,289 
			 Medway council 200 200 0 0 
			 Middlesbrough council 0 0 6,335 5,929 
			 Newcastle-Upon-Tyne city 2,809 839 200 200 
			 North Yorkshire county council 8,051 14,967 13,318 0 
			 Northamptonshire county council 6,200 0 0 0 
			 Northumberland county council 2,710 257 183 5 
			 Nottingham city council 2,800 0 0 0 
			 Poole borough council 0 0 0 2,425 
			 Reading borough council 0 0 31,374 27,597 
			 Rotherham metropolitan borough council 2,060 2,405 563 1,102 
			 Rutland county council 7,811 0 0 0 
			 Salford city council 847 0 0 0 
			 Sandwell metropolitan borough council 0 5,000 8,507 8,349 
			 Sheffield city council 3,700 0 0 0 
			 Somerset county council 0 0 0 2,469 
			 South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive 933 1,064 2,000 0 
			 St Helens metropolitan borough council 5,800 0 91 879 
			 Staffordshire county council 8,800 4,300 600 0 
			 Stockton-on-Tees borough council 200 400 0 0 
			 Stoke-on-Trent city council 1,856 3,306 0 0 
			 Suffolk county council 0 0 6,827 5,173 
			 Sunderland city council 8,615 2,445 0 0 
			 Wakefield metropolitan borough council 0 6,054 17,654 5,627 
			 Warwickshire county council 5,981 11,254 12,685 13 
			 Total 194,323 134,959 209,361 211,817 
		
	
	Separate arrangements are in place for local transport funding in London.

DEFENCE

Armed Forces

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to examine future proposals for capability reductions consistent with the level of scrutiny applied to such proposals in the strategic defence and security review.

Nick Harvey: The strategic defence and security review (SDSR) identified the forces and capabilities required to protect our national interests until 2020. Any reductions or enhancements to that force structure will be scrutinised against that strategic guidance. This will be reviewed at the next SDSR.

Armed Forces: Housing

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment the  (a) Army,  (b) Royal Navy and  (c) Royal Air Force has made of current and future requirements for community policing within the estate of its married quarters.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 23 March 2011
	A range of options for the Ministry of Defence's future requirement for civil policing services is currently under consideration. No final decisions have yet been taken.

Armed Forces: Officers

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many late entry commissioned officers reached the rank of full colonel or above, or its equivalent in each of the three services in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Nick Harvey: It is not possible to provide information which distinguishes between the equivalent of late entry commissioned officers and direct entry officers in the Royal Navy and RAF without incurring disproportionate cost.
	In the Army, late entry terms of service do not currently permit promotion beyond lieutenant colonel. However, it is possible, in some circumstances, for late entry officers to apply to transfer to direct entry terms of service that allow promotion beyond lieutenant colonel in competition.
	Of those in this category the following promotions to substantive colonel have taken place each year:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2006 3 
			 2007 1 
			 2008 0 
			 2009 0 
			 2010 1

Armed Forces: Officers

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK serving commissioned officers are working in British embassies and high commissions; and how many of these are  (a) direct entry and  (b) late entry commissioned officers.

Peter Luff: There are 112 UK serving commissioned officers working in 72 Defence sections in British embassies. Of these, 108 are direct entry officers and four are late entry commissioned officers.

Armed Forces: Officers

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many commissioned officers including direct entry and late entry commissioned officers appointed to roles in the Ministry of Defence building in Whitehall are  (a) of or above and  (b) below the rank of lieutenant colonel or its equivalent;
	(2)  how many  (a) commissioned officers excluding late entry and  (b) late entry commissioned officers were appointed to roles based in the Ministry of Defence building in Whitehall in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Nick Harvey: As at 1 January 2011, there were 580 officers at lieutenant colonel, and equivalent, and above, and 380 at major, or equivalent, and below, stationed in the MOD's Main Building and Old War Office in Whitehall.
	Information on whether or not an officer is a late entry commissioned officer is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Pensions

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what research his Department has undertaken on the effect of using the consumer prices index when uprating benefits for army invalid pensioners and war widows under pensionable age.

Nick Harvey: None. The Treasury has taken the decision across the public service. Calculations and research have not been carried out by each Department for itself.

British Antarctic Survey

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the relationship is between his Department and the British Antarctic Survey.

Nick Harvey: The Ministry of Defence provides a range of logistic support to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). BAS utilise the Falkland Islands military airbridge and have access to East Cove Military Port in the Falkland Islands for water, fuel and other stores. Both services come at a cost to the BAS. Moreover, our Royal Navy vessels patrolling the South Atlantic make regular port calls to BAS bases on South Georgia. The Royal Navy ice patrol vessel which is present in the region throughout the austral summer provides some logistical support to BAS assets in Antarctica.

Community Policing: Housing

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment has been made of the effect of a move towards tri-service accommodation on requirements for community policing.

Nick Harvey: holding answer 23 March 2011
	The requirement for dedicated community policing support for service personnel and their families living in Service Family Accommodation in the UK is determined by an assessment of all relevant information, including local issues and any specific community needs.

Departmental Alcoholic Drinks

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent on the contents of ministerial drinks cabinets since 12 May 2010.

Andrew Robathan: Nothing.

Departmental Public Bodies

Tessa Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee.

Peter Luff: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 22 March 2011,  Official Report, column 942W, to the hon. Member for Hemsworth (Jon Trickett).

Departmental Theft

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what items with a value of over £100 have been taken without authorisation from his Department since his appointment; and what steps have been taken to recover such items.

Peter Luff: Information regarding items with a value of over £100 taken without authorisation will be placed in the Library of the House.
	The National Crime Recording Standards and Home Office Counting Rules require Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) to record all crimes committed or alleged to have been committed on the Ministry of Defence (MOD) estate. On receipt of these allegations MDP will assess them on their merit and will either investigate the allegation themselves, or pass them to the appropriate law enforcement agency to undertake any further investigation they deem necessary in accordance with the relevant policing protocol.
	The MDP has actively promoted a number of crime reduction initiatives throughout the MOD. One such initiative is the "office watch" scheme, which encourages the safeguarding of MOD offices and MOD property by raising awareness of staff, in relation to their own and others' personal property, as well as property of the MOD. The MDP also have 81 Defence Community Police Officers (DCPOs), who are trained crime reduction officers working in MOD establishments across the country. These officers provide an effective deterrent to potential criminals, by raising the awareness of staff, service personnel, service families and contractors. At sites where there are no trained MDP crime reduction personnel present, all staff, and also contractors and visitors, are encouraged to work together to make their places of employment and homes safer and more secure.

HMS Endurance

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what estimate his Department has made of the cost of base porting the future Antarctic Patrol Ship at Devonport alongside the other ships of the Hydrographic Survey Squadron;
	(2)  what progress he has made in replacing the capability formerly provided by HMS Endurance.

Nick Harvey: On 22 March 2011 the Ministry of Defence signed a contract, worth £26 million, with GC Rieber Shipping to lease an ice-breaking vessel to deliver the UK's ice patrol capability for at least the next three years. This is an interim replacement for HMS Endurance while we consider how best to deliver this important capability in the long term.
	The interim replacement ice patrol ship will be named HMS Protector and will be base ported at Her Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth, reflecting the base porting arrangements that are in place for HMS Endurance. We expect to make decisions on the longer term delivery of this capability, including base porting arrangements and their costs and the future of HMS Endurance, next year.

HMS Scott

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps are being taken to provide the capability usually provided by HMS Scott while she is fulfilling the role of Antarctic patrol vessel.

Nick Harvey: HMS Echo and HMS Enterprise have provided the Royal Navy with its hydrographic data gathering capability while HMS Scott has been in the South Atlantic. Tasking of these three ships continues to take account of their respective capabilities in order to ensure that the Royal Navy's requirements are met.

Navy: Officers

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many sea-going commands he expects there to be for Royal Navy officers of the rank of captain in 2012.

Nick Harvey: On current planning it is expected that there will be eight sea-going commands for the rank of Captain Royal Navy in 2012; they are HMS Illustrious, Ocean, Bulwark, Albion, Daring, Dauntless, Westminster and Protector.

Rescue Services

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many call-outs were attended by  (a) RNAS Prestwick,  (b) RAF Boulmer,  (c) RAF Chivenor,  (d) DST Leconfield,  (e) RAF Valley,  (f) RAF Wattisham,  (g) RNAS Culdrose,  (h) HMCG Lee-on-the-Solent,  (i) HMCG Portland,  (j) HMCG Stornoway,  (k) HMCG Sumburgh and  (l) RAF Lossiemouth in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Harvey: The Information requested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			   2006  2007  2008  2009  2010 
			 RNAS Culdrose 228 231 204 311 260 
			 HMS Gannet 269 359 382 447 379 
			 RMB Chivenor 293 256 262 340 339 
			 DST Leconfield 147 222 232 204 174 
			 Wattisham Airfield 163 183 174 162 133 
			 RAF Boulmer 206 170 211 214 193 
			 RAF Lossiemouth 217 188 275 236 175 
			 RAF Valley 225 234 222 322 268 
			 Sumburgh 106 72 109 112 122 
			 Stornoway 152 130 170 183 206 
			 Lee-on-Solent 200 220 220 217 228 
			 Portland 201 196 220 235 213 
		
	
	Data on search and rescue call-outs is regularly published at the following website:
	http://www.dasa.mod.uk/applications/newWeb/www/index.php?page=47

Reserve Forces

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps have been taken to seek contributions from reserve forces to his Department's Reserve Forces study.

Peter Luff: In January of this year a web-based survey was launched to gauge the opinion of Reserve personnel and their employers. This survey was publicised through the chain of command and in-house defence publications. In the month that it was online, the survey received approximately 7,500 responses which are currently being collated and analysed. Senior Reservist personnel have also been co-opted onto the bodies overseeing the study, and a number of written submissions from Reservists and others have been received.

Reserve Forces

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department's Reserve Forces study is to examine the merits of greater integration of reservists with regular forces.

Peter Luff: The future extent of reservist integration with Regular forces is a central component of the study. To develop the role played by the Reserve forces and deliver cost effectiveness for Defence we believe there are several avenues for investigation. We are also analysing the extent to which other nations (particularly the US) integrate their Reserve and Regular components.

Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for the long-term future of fast jet aviation in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Harvey: As announced in the Strategic Defence and Security Review, the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm will operate the carrier variant of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) jointly with the Royal Air Force.

Warships: Decommissioning

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the expected decommissioning dates are for  (a) RFA Gold Rover,  (b) RFA Black Rover,  (c) RFA Orangeleaf,  (d) RFA Bayleaf,  (e) RFA Fort Austin and  (f) RFA Fort Rosalie.

Nick Harvey: Our present planning assumptions are that those ships that will be withdrawn from service are as follows:
	RFA Gold Rover-2016
	RFA Black Rover-2017
	RFA Orangeleaf-2015
	RFA Bayleaf-2011
	RFA Fort Austin-2021
	RFA Fort Rosalie-2022.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Abdelbasit Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on the whereabouts of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has received no recent reports on the whereabouts of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi.

Afghanistan: Detainees

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

William Hague: We believe that the indefinite detention of detainees is unacceptable, and we have repeatedly called for Guantanamo Bay to be closed. On 6 July 2010 the Prime Minister confirmed to Parliament that we will continue to request the release from Guantanamo Bay and return to the UK of Shaker Aamer, the final remaining former legal British resident. The Government have reiterated this request to the US Government on numerous occasions. Both the Deputy Prime Minister and I have raised Mr Aamer's case with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. We are actively engaged at senior official level in pursuing our request with the US Administration. However, the outcome of these discussions is uncertain and any decision regarding Mr Aamer's release is a matter for the United States Government.

Belarus: Human Rights

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent steps his Department has taken to promote respect for human rights in Belarus.

William Hague: The UK is at the forefront of efforts within the EU and the wider international community to bring pressure to bear on the Belarusian authorities, following the fraudulent election and crackdown on the opposition and human rights defenders last December. We have been vocal in advocating a tough EU response, such as re-imposing targeted sanctions on the individuals responsible for human rights abuses. We have repeatedly demanded the release of those detained on political grounds, both at a national level and through our membership of international organisations, such as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Council of Europe and at the UN Council on Human Rights.

Boarding Schools

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many officials in his Department are eligible for assistance for boarding school fees for their children; how many officials receive such assistance; and what the  (a) mean and  (b) median levels of assistance provided in respect of each child were in the latest period for which figures are available.

Alistair Burt: It is a condition of their employment that members of the diplomatic service must be prepared to serve anywhere in the world at any time during their career, sometimes at very short notice. Those with children have a legal obligation as parents to ensure that their children receive a full-time education from the age of five years. Most parents prefer to take their children with them abroad, but in some countries we do not permit staff to take their children either for health or security reasons. In others, local schools of an acceptable standard are not available. Continuity of education is also an important factor, particularly at secondary level.
	So it is longstanding practice that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) helps staff meet their potentially conflicting obligations by providing financial support for their children's education in the UK where staff choose this, or are obliged to do so given local conditions in the country to which they are posted.
	FCO staff who are required to work at our diplomatic missions overseas may claim financial assistance towards UK boarding school costs for their children, provided that they meet specific eligibility criteria. The FCO refunds standard term fees up to a ceiling which is reviewed annually and determined by an independent survey conducted by ECA International, which is used by public and private sector employers whose staff work across the world.
	During the academic year 2009-10, 339 officers received Continuity of Education Allowance for 521 children. This represents about 6% of staff employed in the FCO and FCO Services (a trading fund for which the FCO is responsible). The average sum paid by the FCO per child in FY 2009-10 was £17,342. The median figure was £17,008. Three-quarters of the recipients are below the senior management grade in the FCO (equivalent to the SCS), including junior support staff and single parents.
	More than half the children for whom Continuity of Education Allowance is paid are of secondary school age, when continuity is particularly important in the key two year GCSE and A-level course periods. The figures include the cost of low to moderate special needs support where required. This provision is benchmarked against the provision at School Action and School Action Plus in the state school sector. The figures do not include the cost of the education provided by the FCO for one child with severe learning difficulties.

Christianity: Religious Freedom

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has received in respect of the treatment of Christians in  (a) North Africa and  (b) the Middle East.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has received and continues to receive regular representations from parliamentarians and members of the public about the situation for Christians across the middle east and north Africa. The number of representations rose sharply after the tragic attacks against Christian groups in Iraq and Egypt in late 2010.
	The Government are greatly concerned about those who are denied the right to freedom of religion or belief. We condemn all instances of violence and discrimination against individuals and groups because of their faith or belief, wherever they occur or whatever the religion of the individual or group concerned. We, together with international partners, regularly make clear to governments across the region the importance we place on promoting cultural and religious tolerance and on eliminating all legal provisions and policies which discriminate against different religious communities.

Croatia: EU Enlargement

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the progress of negotiations for the potential accession to the EU of Croatia.

David Lidington: Croatia has now closed 28 out of 35 chapters of its accession negotiations. Croatia is making good progress with its reforms but still has a number of benchmark requirements to meet, particularly within Chapter 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights) and Chapter 8 (Competition). The Government are strong supporters of Croatian EU accession. We look forward to seeing Croatia join the EU once the criteria have been met.

Departmental Theft

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what items with a value of over £100 have been taken without authorisation from his Department since his appointment; and what steps have been taken to recover such items.

Alistair Burt: The information required is held separately in various Foreign and Commonwealth Office departments, all of which hold records relating to various losses and thefts of both personal property and official furnishings, including Information Technology equipment losses. As this information is not held centrally, providing an accurate answer would incur disproportionate cost.

Egypt: Freezing Orders

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with which of his EU counterparts he has discussed the request from the Egyptian authorities for an asset freeze; and on what date each such discussion took place.

William Hague: We have been at the forefront of arguments within the EU to take action on requests from the Egyptian authorities.
	I discussed this issue with my EU counterparts at the Foreign Affairs Council on 21 February. The freeze was agreed on 21 March 2011.

English Language: BBC World Service

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in which countries BBC World Service radio broadcasts of programmes in the English language are not accessible.

Jeremy Browne: The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) World Service in English is available worldwide via the internet.
	The large majority of countries can access the BBC World Service English radio broadcasts. In others, the BBC feels it is more effective to serve these areas through its distribution of BBC World News, the BBC's international English language news and information television channel, or through radio broadcasts in the local language, such as BBC Arabic services.

India: Human Rights

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent steps his Department has taken to promote human rights in India; and if he will make a statement.

William Hague: The Government maintain an ongoing dialogue with the Government of India on human rights issues. We also play a leading role in the annual EU-India human rights dialogue which last took place on 22 March 2011.
	In January this year a member of our high commission joined an EU delegation to observe the high profile trial of human rights defender Binayak Sen. Last year we took part in an EU visit to the state of Orissa to look at progress made since the violence against Christians in 2008. And last month we invited the legal director of the Equality and Human Rights Commission to take part in a joint EU-India Seminar on Social Inclusion. His visit included meetings with counterparts at the Indian National Human Rights Commission.
	We continue to work with non-government organisations (NGO) to help strengthen the capacity of institutions in India. Through the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights, the EU contributes €900,000 each year to human rights projects in India. The Department for International Development also works together with the Government of India and the NGO community to help ensure equal treatment and access to services for the most disadvantaged communities.

Iraq: Iran

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of access to medical treatment for residents of Camp Ashraf.

Alistair Burt: We are aware of reports from Camp residents claiming that they have been denied access to medical care. The Iraqi Government's Ashraf Committee has informed our embassy officials that residents are given access to medical treatment and that serious cases are referred to hospitals in Baghdad or Erbil in northern Iraq.
	Our embassy in Baghdad will continue to urge the Ashraf Committee to ensure that the Iraqi authorities treat the residents of Camp Ashraf in accordance with international humanitarian standards.

Japan: Earthquakes

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when  (a) his Department and  (b) the British Embassy in Japan was first contacted in regard to documentation for International Rescue Corps work in Japan; when the documentation requested was issued; and what the time taken was from initial request to issue of the documentation.

Jeremy Browne: On the evening of 15 March 2011, the International Rescue Corps (IRC) asked our embassy in Tokyo for a letter of support for a vehicle access pass for the expressway. The embassy faxed this letter, as a note verbale, to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs at approximately 7 am on 16 March 2011, and followed up with phone calls to the Ministry.
	The embassy contacted the IRC to keep them updated, but on 16 March the team decided to return to the UK.

Japan: Earthquakes

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his oral evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 16 March 2011, HC 881-i, Q2, what the evidential basis was for his statement that the International Rescue Corps team in Japan did not have logistical, transport or language support.

Jeremy Browne: The statement was based on reports from our embassy in Tokyo.

Japan: Earthquakes

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reason the British Embassy in Japan did not provide authorisation for the International Rescue Corps to carry out rescue operations in that country.

Jeremy Browne: Decisions about whether or not to provide authorisation for rescue operations in Japan are for the Japanese Government. Our embassy in Tokyo wrote a formal letter of support to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on behalf of the International Rescue Corps.

Japan: Overseas Aid

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support his Department is giving to the Japanese Government after the recent earthquake in that country.

Jeremy Browne: As the Prime Minister said in a statement to the House on 14 March 2011,  Official Report, column 25, the UK Government deployed a 63-strong UK Search and Rescue team, which included medical personnel, on 13 March. They worked alongside US and Chinese rescue workers in Ofunato, clearing a large industrial district and residential area. The team returned from Japan on 19 March. The first UK aid of over 3,000 tents reached the disaster region on 20 March. We have also offered Disaster Victim Identification, humanitarian assistance and nuclear expertise to the Japanese Government. The Government stands ready to offer further humanitarian and other assistance as required.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with the Foreign Minister of the Palestinian Authority on the authority's commitment to ending incitement to violence against Israel;
	(2)  what reports he has received of cash awards made by the Palestinian Authority to the family of an individual who sought to kill Israeli soldiers in December 2010;
	(3)  what reports he has received on the naming of a youth football tournament in the West Bank in honour of Wafa Idris.

Alistair Burt: We are aware of the reports that my hon. Friend refers to. As I mentioned in my letter of 23 March 2011, the UK condemns all violence and any incitement to violence. It follows that we are strongly opposed to any payments of cash linked to violence.

Palestinians: Diplomatic Relations

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the practical consequences of his decision on 7 March 2011 to upgrade the diplomatic status of the Palestinian delegation to the UK.

William Hague: As I set out in my joint press conference with President Abbas on 8 March 2011, the upgrade of the Palestinian General Delegation in London is in recognition of the significant progress that Prime Minister Fayyad and the Palestinian Authority have made, under the leadership of President Abbas, to build the foundations of a viable Palestinian state in line with their road map commitments.
	The change includes upgrading the Palestinian Delegation to the status of a Mission and the position of the Head of Delegation to that of Head of Mission, a ceremony hosted by a Minister for new Heads of Mission, simplified visa arrangements for officials who work at the Mission and additional car parking. The upgrade does not require any amendment to the Diplomatic Privileges Act 1964 or the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987.

Palestinians: Economic Situation

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the economic situation in Gaza; what recent discussions he has had with  (a) the Government of Israel,  (b) the Palestinian Authority,  (c) the Government of Egypt,  (d) the Arab League,  (e) the Government of Jordan,  (f) his EU counterparts and  (g) the United Nations Secretary General on this issue; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: According to International Monetary Fund figures, economic growth across the Palestinian Territories was 6.8% in 2009. The west bank's economy grew at 7.2% in 2009; however, much of this growth was derived from higher Government spending and international aid rather than from exports, which fell in that period. The west bank's economy continues to be constrained by a number of factors, including movement and access constraints on goods and people, and poor investment confidence.
	Gaza's economy grew at 5.4% in 2009 from a very low base after the damage incurred in Operation Cast Lead. We are concerned that Israeli access restrictions continue to stifle sustainable economic recovery in Gaza, and we look forward to the full implementation of Israel's commitments to allow Gazan exports to international markets, and to increase the flows of goods into the territory.
	UK Ministers and officials regularly discuss the economic situation in the Palestinian Territories with the Palestinian Authority, Israel, regional countries, UN agencies, other donor countries and organisations.

Peacekeeping Operations

Richard Drax: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of future levels of demand by his Department for assistance from the armed forces for  (a) evacuation of UK nationals abroad and  (b) assistance to foreign government in civil emergencies; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Browne: We are reviewing the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's arrangements for leading the evacuation of British nationals in a crisis, which includes the option of military operations to evacuate British nationals. The review will be published once it has been considered by Ministers. Assistance to foreign governments is normally provided through civilian mechanisms, for example civilian search and rescue teams were deployed to both New Zealand and Japan after the earthquakes, and a civilian Disaster Victim Identification team was also deployed to New Zealand.

Saudi Arabia: Politics and Government

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in Saudi Arabia on political freedoms in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

William Hague: We have a full and frank dialogue with our Saudi partners across a range of issues. We welcome the news, announced earlier this week, that the number of municipal councillors will be doubled and that the postponed Municipal elections will now take place in September. On Tuesday 22 March, I had lunch with HRH Prince Saud Al Faisal in London where we exchanged views on regional issues of concern and developments in the Kingdom.

Stress

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what arrangements are in place in his Department to  (a) reduce levels of work-based stress and  (b) provide assistance to staff diagnosed with such stress.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has a number of procedures in place to reduce stress at work and to offer support to those affected, including an e-learning package on stress and access to an employee assistance programme. A stress management framework, based on the Health and Safety Executive's management standards, is available to all employees and includes advice and practical help on the successful prevention, recognition and management of stress at work.

Taliban: Arms Trade

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had in the UN Security Council on  (a) the supply of weapons to the Taliban and  (b) the application of international pressure on Iran to prevent such supply; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: We are deeply concerned by the latest evidence that elements in the Iranian system continue to supply the Taliban with weaponry, which is at odds with Iran's claim to support stability and security in Afghanistan.
	This was most recently discussed in the UN Security Council on 22 March 2011, where we made clear our concerns and called for the UN Iran Sanctions Committee to investigate.
	We will continue to push for full implementation of UN Security Council resolutions which prohibit such weapons transfers and support the Sanctions Committee pursuing and investigating sanctions violations. We have also made clear to the authorities in Tehran that such behaviour is completely unacceptable and should cease immediately.

UN Security Council: Reform

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent steps his Department has taken on reform of the UN Security Council; and if he will make a statement.

William Hague: We remain supportive of the need for UN Security Council reform and are working with international partners on how to take this forward. As I said at Georgetown University on 17 November 2010. "we are ardent advocates of ... the reform of international institutions, including a more representative UN Security Council." At the last round of negotiations in New York on 2 March 2011, we welcomed the continuing work of Ambassador Tanin and called on all member states to engage constructively in the process of reform.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Access to Work Programme

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many contracts he expects to award for delivery of the Access to Work Programme.

Maria Miller: The Secretary of State expects to award seven contracts to deliver Access to Work assessments. These will be split in to geographical groups, as follows:
	Scotland
	North East England;
	North West England;
	Central England;
	London and Home Counties;
	Southern England;
	Wales.
	In addition, there will be seven further contracts to deliver mental health support services to Access to Work customers, based on the same geographical groups.

Access to Work Programme

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he plans to award separate contracts to deliver the Access to Work programme in England, Scotland and Wales.

Maria Miller: The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions intends to award separate contracts to deliver the access to work assessments and mental health support services in the following geographical groups:
	Scotland
	North East England
	North West England
	Central England
	London and Home Counties
	Southern England
	Wales.

Access to Work Programme

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is on allowing prospective prime contractors for the new Access to Work contract to require small charities to sign exclusivity clauses when seeking to participate under the tender.

Maria Miller: The Secretary of State does not have a policy regarding prospective prime contractors requiring small charities to sign exclusivity clauses when seeking to participate in the Access to Work tender.
	The Department for Work and Pensions encourages the use of small and medium enterprises in delivering our contracts wherever possible.

Access to Work Programme

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to require contractors for the Access to Work Programme to promote assistance for people with  (a) a mental health condition and  (b) a learning disability; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Miller: It is our objective to promote employment opportunities for all disabled groups including people with mental health conditions and learning disabilities, including through Access to Work. Both groups feature in the contracting framework for external assessment for Access to Work.

Children: Day Care

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of providing childcare support to lone parent households where the youngest child turns five and the parents become subject to work search requirements in  (a) 2011-12,  (b) 2012-13 and  (c) 2013-14;
	(2)  how many additional lone parent households he estimates will require wraparound child care after work search requirements are extended to parents where the youngest child turns five in  (a) 2011-12,  (b) 2012-13 and  (c) 2013-14.

Maria Miller: The June 2010 Budget announced the requirement for lone parents to prepare for and seek work as a condition of receiving benefits would be extended from those with a youngest child aged seven or over, to those with a youngest child aged five or over. We estimated in the recent impact assessment 'Conditionality Measures in the 2011 Welfare Reform Bill' that the change will help 20,000 to 25,000 extra lone parents into work in steady state.
	There are a number of flexibilities in the job search requirements for lone parents, to cater for different needs and personal circumstances. For example, lone parents may limit the hours they are available for work to a minimum of 16 hours a week based on their caring responsibilities. In addition, those with children aged 12 or under have the right to restrict their availability for work to their children's normal school hours. Evidence suggests that lone parents use a range of, and a mixture of formal and informal child care, some of which are state-funded.
	Given these factors, we are not able to precisely estimate the additional child care that lone parents will use as a result of the policy.
	However, we estimate that the policy will increase expenditure on tax credits and in-work credit by £240 million over the spending review period to March 2015, of which around 80% can be attributed to tax credits. This includes the child care element of the working tax credit, based on an assumed child care expenditure across all lone parents.
	This does not take account of any changes introduced as a result of universal credit, in 2013-14, although we have committed to overall expenditure on child care at least equivalent to that in the present system.

Children: Maintenance

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many parents called the Child Maintenance Options Service in 2009-10; how many went on to make or change a private maintenance arrangement; how many went on to make Child Support Agency (CSA) arrangements; and how many made neither a private arrangement nor a CSA arrangement.

Maria Miller: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested and I have seen the response.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 11 March 2011:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many parents called the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission Options Service in 2009-10; how many went on to make or change a private maintenance arrangement; how many went on to make Child Support Agency (CSA) arrangements; and how many made neither a private arrangement nor a CSA arrangement.
	In the 12 months to March 2010, the Child Maintenance Options service answered 142,601 inbound calls from 73,769 unique clients. It also made 143,889 successful outbound calls to 135,188 unique clients.
	The Child Maintenance Options Service does not have published information on outcomes by individual caller or on a year by year basis, as some arrangements made one year may break down in the following year. An estimated 60,000 children were benefiting from a family-based arrangement which was effective following one or other parent contacting the Child Maintenance Options service between July 2008 and March 2010. From internal surveys, it is estimated that the number of children benefiting from a family-based arrangement has increased to 91,000 for parents contacting the Child Maintenance Options service up to October 2010.
	This figure will be updated by a further internal survey at the end of March 2011 which will include an estimate of children benefiting from an effective CSA arrangement and those who have not yet made an arrangement.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

Children: Maintenance

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the estimates of likely take-up of family-based maintenance arrangements at paragraph 4 of his Department's impact assessment on the Child Maintenance Green Paper, if he will estimate the likely effect of the take-up of such arrangements on  (a) the running costs of the proposed statutory child support system and  (b) the number of cases to be handled under that system.

Maria Miller: The Department for Work and Pensions will produce estimates of the running costs of the proposed statutory child support system and the number of cases to be handled under that system when we publish detailed proposals in the form of draft regulations later in the year. The impact assessments for the draft regulations will set out the estimated impacts on costs and volumes.

Children: Maintenance

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what research his Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on the effects of his proposals to levy charges on parents who use the future child support scheme on (i) children living apart from one parent, (ii) parents with care, and (iii) non-resident parents;
	(2)  with reference to the proposed new charging regime for use of the statutory child maintenance service proposed in the Strengthening Families, promoting parental responsibility Green Paper, what research he has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on the number of children who live in separated families for whom effective arrangements are in place for the purposes of determining the potential effects of the new charging regime on the number of such children with effective arrangements.

Maria Miller: The Department for Work and Pensions regularly reviews its research requirements. Specific research proposals are considered under a range of criteria, including evidence priorities and value for money.
	The Green Paper 'Strengthening families, promoting parental responsibility: the future of child maintenance' has set out the coalition Government's vision for child maintenance. The research required to support these proposed policies will be considered against the wider departmental requirements.

Children: Maintenance

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what proportion of the live and assessed caseload of the Child Support Agency is attributable to parents with care on income-related benefits; and what the average weekly child maintenance liability for this group  (a) including and  (b) excluding nil liability was in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(2)  what proportion of the live and assessed cases with a positive liability being handled by the Child Support Agency is attributable to parents with care on income-related benefits.

Maria Miller: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested and I have seen the response.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner as the Child Support Agency is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.
	; and
	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of the live and assessed cases with a positive liability being handled by the Child Support Agency is attributable to parents with care on income-related benefits.
	In the quarter ending May 2010, of the total live and assessed caseload, in 31% of cases the parent with care or their partner is on Income Support or income based Jobseeker's Allowance.
	In the same period, of all cases with a positive child maintenance liability, in 30% of cases the parent with care or their partner is on Income Support or income based Jobseeker's Allowance.
	The average weekly child maintenance assessment for cases where the parent with care or their partner is on Income Support or income based Jobseeker's Allowance is £14. Excluding cases that have a weekly child maintenance assessment of zero, the average amount is £23 per week. These figures are rounded to the nearest £1.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

Disability Living Allowance

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department has carried out an assessment of the likely effect on carers of his proposed reform to disability living allowance.

Maria Miller: We recognise the importance of DLA "passporting" the individual to other help and support and will take this into account in developing our reforms and in the design of personal independence payment (PIP). At this point the new assessment has not been finalised and the impact on carers will only be determined when this is completed.
	We are working with disabled people and organisations who represent them on the detailed design and delivery of personal independence payment and we will consider carefully the outcome of the DLA reform consultation in developing the passport to CA entitlement from PIP. The outcomes from this work will be reflected in updates to the impact assessment for this change.

Disability Living Allowance: Autism

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take steps to ensure that people with evidence of autism will not be required to have face-to-face assessments to determine eligibility for disability living allowance.

Maria Miller: The Government propose to replace disability living allowance with personal independence payment in 2013-14. We are still considering the most appropriate delivery model for the personal independence payment assessment and no decisions have yet been taken, including how it will apply to existing DLA recipients. However, we believe that advice from a suitably trained and approved individual, for example a healthcare professional, will be an important part of ensuring that the assessment is more objective and consistent. In most cases, we expect this to involve a face-to-face consultation to enable an in-depth look at an individual's circumstances.
	We know it is essential that the assessment accurately captures the needs of disabled people with autistic spectrum disorders and this is something that the development group is considering. For example, they believe that the new assessment should explicitly take account of the impact of a health condition or impairment, including autistic spectrum disorders, on an individual's ability to communicate. This would set it apart from the current DLA assessment. We also recognise the importance of ensuring that the assessment process is appropriate to individual's circumstances, including individuals with autistic spectrum disorders. Both I and departmental officials have met with the National Autistic Society to discuss our reform proposals and to seek their views on how the new benefit can best support those with autism. We will continue to work with disabled people and their organisations as the detail of the assessment criteria and its operation is developed and tested.

Pensioners: Disability

Margot James: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to support the mobility needs of people aged over 65 years with disabilities.

Maria Miller: People aged 65 and over can get disability living allowance (DLA), which includes a mobility component, provided a claim is made before they are 65 and they continue to satisfy the conditions of entitlement.
	People who make a claim when they are aged 65 or older can get attendance allowance which is paid in respect of care needs, but does not contain a mobility component.
	It is normal for pensions and benefits schemes to contain different provisions for people at different stages of their lives, and we intend to continue this after the introduction of personal independence payment. As for disability living allowance now, those who are in receipt of personal independence payment at the point they reach age 65 will be able to continue to receive the benefit subject to the entitlement conditions continuing to be satisfied. This difference in treatment acknowledges the disadvantages people have when they are severely disabled early or relatively early in life, and therefore have more limited opportunities to work, earn and save.

Pensions

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the contribution of Lord Freud in the Grand Committee of the House of Lords of 15 March 2011,  Official Report, column GC57, what progress the Government has made on its comprehensive action plan for reinvigorating private pensions saving; what the elements of this action plan are; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb: The coalition agreement includes a commitment to:
	"...simplify the rules and regulations relating to pensions to help reinvigorate occupational pensions, encouraging companies to offer high-quality pensions to all employees and we will work with business and the industry to support auto-enrolment."
	The key programme to reinvigorate private pension saving is the workplace pension reforms-automatic enrolment into a workplace pension, compulsory employer contributions and establishment of the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST). From October 2012 all employers will be required to automatically enrol their eligible workers into a qualifying pension scheme. We estimate that the reforms should lead to 5-8 million people newly saving or saving more for their retirement.
	To help ensure that existing pension law remains appropriate following automatic enrolment, we have issued a call for evidence on the different regulatory regimes in place for trust-based occupational pension schemes and contract-based schemes. This will look at, among other things, the likely increase in the number of small pension pots post-automatic enrolment and possible solutions for helping schemes better manage the challenges they present-including looking at the rules around transfers. The call for evidence closes on 18 April and we will bring forward any proposals for change in due course. We are also engaging with the Pensions Regulator which has issued a discussion document (for response by 22 April) on defined contribution pensions(1).
	A range of other measures has been put in place or is in train to support good pension provision. For example, simplified disclosure of information regulations enabling greater use of electronic communications came into force on 1 December 2010(2). The rules on employer debt to pension schemes are being reviewed to make it easier for companies to restructure while protecting members' pensions. The aim is to introduce these changes in October 2011, following public consultation.
	We are ending contracting out for defined contribution pension schemes(3). This will simplify pension choices for individuals and administration for schemes.
	The Government are exploring how pension saving might be made more attractive to individuals. For example, we are removing the requirement to annuitise at age 75 as part of the Finance Bill 2011, and we are continuing to consider options for improving take-up of the open market option for annuities.
	We are also engaging in debates across the broader pensions community, and welcome initiatives such as the National Association of Pension Funds' Workplace Retirement Income Commission, which aims to develop consensus on how to improve and strengthen retirement savings(4).
	(1) "Enabling good member outcomes in work-based pension provision".
	http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/docs/dc-discussion-paper-2011.pdf
	(2) SI 2659/2010 The Occupational, Personal and Stakeholder Pension Scheme (Disclosure of Information) (Amendment) Regulations 2010
	(3) Legislated for in the Pensions Acts 2007 (s15) and 2008 (s106)
	(4)www.napf.co.uk/PressCentre/Press_releases/0095_West_Midlands_least_confident_about_paying_for_retirement.aspx
	http://wricommission.org.uk/wric/

Personal Independence Payment

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether claimants at the  (a) standard and  (b) enhanced rate of the proposed personal independence payment will be eligible for (i) blue badges and (ii) road tax exemption.

Maria Miller: We recognise the importance of passporting entitlement to disability living allowance to additional forms of help and support such as the Blue Badge scheme and exemption from vehicle excise duty. Therefore we are considering carefully how passporting arrangements will operate as we develop the assessment criteria for personal independence payment. We are working across Government and with the devolved Administrations to ensure that measures can be taken to maintain passports where appropriate. Where applicable we have also taken the legislative measures in the Welfare Reform Bill to enable continuing passporting arrangements.

Personal Independence Payment

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department proposes to move children from disability living allowance to the proposed personal independence payment; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Miller: Personal independence payment will replace disability living allowance for working-age (16 to 64) adults from 2013 and the new objective assessment is being designed to gather information about adult needs. We want to build on the experience of developing an assessment and applying it to new and existing claimants of working-age to inform our decisions about the arrangements for children. Therefore we will not consider extending personal independence payment to new claims from children or to children already receiving DLA, until we have had an opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of the new arrangements for working age people.

Personal Independence Payment

Margot James: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  whether people in receipt of disability living allowance aged over 65 will be eligible for the personal independence payment;
	(2)  whether existing disability living allowance claimants aged over 65 years will be eligible for the personal independence payment.

Maria Miller: Personal independence payment will replace disability living allowance for working-age (16-64) adults from 2013. As for disability living allowance now, those who are in receipt of personal independence payment at the point they reach age 65 will be able to continue to receive the benefit subject to the entitlement conditions continuing to be satisfied.
	We want to build on the experience of developing an assessment and applying it to new and existing claimants of working-age to inform our decisions about the arrangements for current disability living allowance recipients who are over the age of 65. Therefore we will not consider extending personal independence payment to people over the age of 65 already receiving DLA, until we have had an opportunity to consider the effectiveness of the new arrangements for working age people.

Social Fund

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 18 March 2011,  Official Report, column 750W, on the Social Fund, what the monetary value of loans and grants from the Social Fund was for cookers and washing machines in  (a) 2008-09 and  (b) 2009-10.

Steve Webb: The available information is given in the following tables.
	
		
			  Crisis loan gross expenditure on cookers in Great Britain 
			   £ million 
			 2008-09 17 
			 2009-10 24 
		
	
	
		
			  Crisis loan gross expenditure on washing machines and tumble driers in Great Britain 
			   £ million 
			 2008-09 4 
			 2009-10 4 
			  Notes: 1. The information provided is Management Information. Our preference is to answer all parliamentary questions using Official/National Statistics but in this case we only have Management Information available. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official/National statistics and there are some issues with the data, for example, it does not include applications which were processed clerically and had not been entered on to the Social Fund Computer System by the end of the relevant financial year. 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest £1 million.  Source: Department for Work and Pensions Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System

Social Security Benefits: Lone Parents

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether single mothers being moved from income support to jobseeker's allowance will experience any interruption in payments due to the change in benefit status.

Chris Grayling: No they will not. Every effort is made to ensure that lone parents who move from income support to jobseeker's allowance, as their youngest child reaches the relevant age, continue to receive their payments without interruption. The change does require the customer to make a claim with HMRC to child tax credits for their children if they are claiming child dependency addition, as this is not available under jobseeker's allowance. However, this is completed on the customer's behalf to ensure that the lone parent's level of benefit is maintained, albeit from two separate sources, during the transition.
	Since the introduction of this process in November 2008 we have smoothly transferred over 250,000 lone parents from income support onto jobseeker's allowance.

State Retirement Pensions: Wolverhampton

Pat McFadden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Wolverhampton South East constituency are in receipt of the state pension.

Steve Webb: As at August 2010, there were 15,870 recipients of the state pension in Wolverhampton South East parliamentary constituency.
	 Notes
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
	2. Constituencies used are for the Westminster Parliament of May 2010.
	3. State pension figure provided is the total state pension caseload. Around 1% of state pension recipients are not in receipt of the basic state pension, but are receiving additional pension only or graduated retirement benefit only.
	4. From April 2010, the age at which women reach state pension age started to gradually increase from 60. This will introduce a small increase to the number of working age benefit recipients and a small reduction to the number of pension age recipients. Figures from May 2010 onwards reflect this change.
	5. These data are available on the Department's tabulation tool at:
	http://83.244.183.180/100pc/tabtool.html
	 Source
	DWP Information Directorate Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100% data as at August 2010.

TREASURY

Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission: Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 18 March 2011,  Official Report, column 762W, on Members: correspondence, when the Child Benefit Office, Preston, plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Walsall North of 14 February 2011.

David Gauke: Child Benefit Office, Washington replied to a letter from the hon. Member dated 14 February 2011 on 28 February 2011.

Departmental Theft

Luciana Berger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what items with a value of over £100 have been taken without authorisation from his Department since his appointment; and what steps have been taken to recover such items.

Justine Greening: There are seven recorded instances of items with a value of over £100 (six laptops and one BlackBerry mobile device) being taken without authorisation since 12 May 2010. All involved theft by persons unknown. In each case the incident was reported to the police, although none of the items have so far been recovered.

Financial Services: Regulation

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Financial Services Authority in relation to the regulation of independent financial advisers.

Mark Hoban: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is an independent body, given statutory powers by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA). Its day-to-day activities, including the regulation of independent financial advisers, are conducted independently of Government. The Government do not undertake assessments of the effectiveness of discrete FSA activities.

Stress

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what arrangements are in place in his Departments to  (a) reduce levels of work-based stress and  (b) provide assistance to staff diagnosed with such stress.

Justine Greening: The Chancellor's departments are committed to the well-being of their employees. Information and training is provided to employees on the prevention, recognition and management of stress. Staff surveys are used to monitor perceptions of workload and flexible working policies are in place to support work-life balance. Confidential, advisory, welfare, occupational health and counselling services are provided to identify, assess and prevent stress related ill-health and to provide assistance to any staff who are affected.

VAT: Channel Islands

John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with the Government of  (a) Jersey and  (b) Guernsey on potential abuse of low value consignment relief.

David Gauke: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 13 December 2010,  Official Report, column 561W, to the hon. Member for Torbay (Mr Sanders).

VAT: Fraud

John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received on instances of alleged abuse of low value consignment relief.

David Gauke: The Government have received several representations from trade associations and businesses about alleged abuse of the low value consignment relief (LVCR).
	HMRC examines trading arrangements that are subject to the LVCR as part of its routine work across the whole field of VAT to ensure that VAT rules are being applied correctly. This includes whether or not an arrangement can be considered to fall within the VAT concept of 'abuse'.
	When HMRC finds evidence to suggest abuse, it takes action to robustly address the situation LVCR is no exception.

VAT: Insulation

Luciana Berger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what criteria his Department used to determine which energy-saving materials would qualify for the lower rates of value added tax.

David Gauke: The prime criterion for determining which energy-saving materials would qualify for the reduced rate of VAT was that their primary purpose should be to provide energy-saving alternatives to existing products.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Stress

Chris Ruane: To ask the Attorney-General what arrangements the Law Officers' Departments have in place  (a) to reduce levels of and  (b) to support staff diagnosed with work-related stress.

Dominic Grieve: The information requested is detailed as follows.
	The Treasury Solicitors Department (TSol) has a Health and Well Being strategy designed to help prevent people from becoming ill and to help reduce levels of stress. This includes providing Health Screening every two years, offering regular GP appointments, improving working conditions through engaging staff and offering flexible working opportunities.
	If a member of staff is diagnosed with work-related stress TSol's HR Division will consider a referral to an Occupational Health adviser to obtain guidance on what adjustments they may need to put in place to help the individual cope. These could range from more flexible working arrangements to a change in role, and the particular circumstances of each case are taken into account. They may also advise the individual to contact Care First, an employee advice, information and counselling service.
	The Attorney-General's Office and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate are both covered by the TSol Health and Well Being strategy.
	The Crown Prosecution Service has developed a comprehensive strategy designed to reduce levels of work related stress, and supports staff diagnosed with work related stress through a range of internally and externally delivered interventions. This strategy includes:
	Delivery of a programme of training to Human Resource Advisors (HRA) and line managers to raise understanding of work related stress factors and how to carry out personal risk assessments.
	Provision of online guidance for staff and line managers on understanding pressures in the workplace and recognising the signs of stress.
	Revision of the Department's Grievance Policy to better support informal and more timely resolution of workplace conflict, a known major contributor to work related stress.
	Free employee access to Care First who provide a free and confidential counselling and support service, accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
	The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has a sick absence management action plan. Where stress is identified line managers actively support individuals and encourage them to make use of the support mechanisms provided by the SFO. These include an employee assistance programme, HR support and access to an Occupational Health adviser. The employee assistance programme provides counselling and support on a wide range of issues including work related stress, and the Occupational Health provider offers advice to support individuals in making reasonable adjustments to the workplace in order to alleviate the causes of stress.
	The National Fraud Authority (NFA) under its duty of care as an employer provides a good working environment with plenty of opportunity for employees to feedback on their work and workplace arrangements, including an annual staff survey. This enables the NFA to monitor and manage individual and office-wide conditions, adjusting arrangements as needed to reduce causes of work related stress. The NFA also subscribes to Care First, a professional people support services scheme to provide additional support for its employees.

Third Sector

Chris Ruane: To ask the Attorney-General how much the Law Officers' Departments provided to each charity they fund in each of the last five years; and how much he has allocated for funding to each such charity in each of the next five years.

Edward Garnier: The Law Officers' Departments have not supported any charities through funding in the last five years and have no plans to do so in the future.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agriculture: Subsidies

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on the size of the budget for the common agricultural policy in the five years from 2013.

James Paice: We want the EU budget to be smaller, so that our domestic efforts to cut the deficit are not undermined by growth in EU spending. At 43% of the EU budget, CAP cannot be immune to the hard choices being made elsewhere. There must, therefore, be a very substantial cut to the CAP budget during the next financial framework which starts in 2014, as part of a wider strategy to deliver budgetary restraint by identifying savings across the EU budget.

Agriculture: Subsidies

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will assess the effects on the level of support available to smallholder farms of payments made to large-scale farms in the UK under the common agricultural policy.

James Paice: Levels of support for farmers under common agricultural policy schemes are generally determined by detailed EU rules which apply to all claimants under the schemes in question. In most cases, therefore, payments to one eligible claimant would not be expected to impact on payments to another eligible claimant. The exception would be where there is an element of competition for set funding, for example, the Higher Level Stewardship scheme. But then, the key issue is not the size of the claimant's farm, but the extent to which a claimant meets the criteria set for the scheme in question.

Agriculture: Subsidies

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will assess the value for money of payments made to large-scale farms under the common agricultural policy.

James Paice: The Government believe that long-term provision of direct payments to farmers is not value for money compared with targeted payments as provided under RDPE. That is why we wish the current reforms to lead to a phasing out of Pillar 1 payments.

Agriculture: Subsidies

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on establishing a cap on the payments made to farms under the common agricultural policy.

James Paice: The UK is opposed to the European Commission's suggestion that direct payments to large farms should be capped. The common agricultural policy should encourage greater competitiveness, including consolidation, which capping would discourage.

Agriculture: Training

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department is taking to ensure agricultural workers receive adequate training.

James Paice: Skills development is an important element contributing to both competitiveness and innovation in agriculture. Development of a highly skilled farming industry and the training delivery landscape which enables that is chiefly for the industry, working with Lantra (the land based industries' sector skills council) and training providers, such as land based colleges, to ensure training provision meets the needs of individual farmers.
	DEFRA is working with the industry-led Agri-Skills Forum which is leading on improving skills development in agriculture. Activities include raising the profile of the importance and relevance of training and skills, particularly business skills, with individual farmers, developing continuing professional development schemes and improving the professionalism of the industry. In addition, we are working with both the industry and BIS to help increase the uptake of apprenticeships by farmers to encourage young people into farming careers.

Common Agricultural Policy

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department plans to take during the Hungarian presidency of the Council of Ministers of the EU towards reform of the common agricultural policy.

James Paice: DEFRA Ministers have to date represented the UK at three Agriculture Council discussions on the Commission's proposals for future Common agricultural policy (CAP) during the Hungarian presidency, as well as meeting Ministers from several member states, the Commission and representatives of the European Parliament to discuss CAP reform. We will continue to press for ambitious reform of the CAP that will provide value for money for farmers, taxpayers, industry, consumers and the environment.

Forests

John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects to publish information on those forests which are to be sold.

James Paice: holding answer 23 March 2011
	 The consultation on the future of the Public Forest Estate has been ended and all forestry clauses in the Public Bodies Bill have been removed. All new sales have been suspended. An independent panel of experts will now examine forestry policy in England and report back to Ministers in the autumn.

International Climate Financing: Finance

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much money her Department plans to allocate to International Climate Financing in  (a) 2010-11,  (b) 2011-12,  (c) 2012-13,  (d) 2013-14 and  (e) 2014-15.

James Paice: In total DEFRA is responsible for £100 million (for forestry) of the International Climate Fund. This breaks down as £10 million for 2011-12, £20 million for 2012-13, £30 million for 2013-14, and £40 million for 2014-15. There was no DEFRA contribution to UK climate financing in 2010-11.

Nature Conservation

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what financial support her Department plans to provide to habitat restoration projects in each of the next four financial years.

Richard Benyon: Precise spending plans have not been finalised but during 2011-12 Natural England estimates it will spend about £4 million on restoring and maintaining habitats on National Nature Reserves and Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Significant sums are also provided for habitat restoration by the Rural Development Programme for England and Environment Agency grant in aid.

Public Forest Estate

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 15 June 2010,  Official Report, column 337W, when she plans to publish the main report of the study into the long-term sustainable role for the public forest estate.

James Paice: The study into the long-term sustainable role for the public forest estate by the Forestry Commission was initiated in 2008 under the previous Administration. The final draft report of the working group was presented to the Forestry Commission's England National Committee on 26 May 2010 before the outcome of the spending review 2010. The Forestry Commission did not bring forward any final recommendations following a reassessment of policy on the public forest estate. The committee's meeting papers are routinely published on the Forestry Commission's website and those from May 2010 are expected to be added shortly.

Public Sector: Food

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what estimate she has made of the quantity of  (a) pork and  (b) pork products purchased by Government bodies in the last 12 months for which figures are available; by whom such products are supplied; what the farms of origin are; and what average price per kilogram was paid in that period;
	(2)  what recent estimate she has made of the  (a) cost of production for pig farmers supplying pork and pork products to the public sector and  (b) price that they received in the latest period for which figures are available.

James Paice: holding answer 7 March 2011
	No estimate has been made of the cost of production for pig farmers supplying pork and pork products to the public sector or price that they received.
	Information on the quantity of pork and pork products purchased by Government bodies, the suppliers, and the name of the supplying farm is not collated centrally. The price paid will in many cases be commercially confidential and therefore such information will also not be collected.
	However, we are shortly to publish Government Buying Standards for food which will be mandatory for central Government and promoted to the wider public sector. Departments have been advised that they should be able to report, by June this year, baseline data for compliance with these standards.
	One of the requirements of the Government Buying Standards will be that, in line with the industry principles on country of origin labelling, caterers should be able to indicate the origin of the meat, meat products and dairy products either on the menu or accompanying literature, or at least when the information is requested by the consumer.

Public Sector: Food

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance she has issued to public bodies in England on purchasing pork and pork products produced in England; and how much of the pork procured by the public sector in the last 12 months was labelled with the  (a) country of origin and  (b) name of the supplying farm.

James Paice: holding answer 7 March 2011
	The Government have made a commitment to source food, subject to no overall increase in costs, meeting British or equivalent standards of production and I wrote to all Departments in January with guidance to this effect. Specific guidance on procuring pork and pork products has been published on the DEFRA website at:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/policy/publicsectorfood/documents/pigmeat-quality010127-ga.pdf
	Information on the amount of pork procured by the public sector labelled with the  (a) country of origin and  (b) the name of the supplying farm is not collated centrally. However, we are shortly to publish Government Buying Standards for food which will be mandatory for central Government and promoted to the wider public sector.
	One of the requirements of the Government Buying Standards will be that, in line with the industry principles on country of origin labelling, caterers should be able to indicate the origin of the meat, meat products and dairy products either on the menu or accompanying literature, or at least when the information is requested by the consumer.

Veterinary Medicine

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the number of qualified graduates in veterinary science to meet demand for employees in that profession; and if she will make a statement.

James Paice: There has been no recent assessment made of whether there is an adequate number of veterinarians, as we are not aware of any particular concerns. However, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) undertakes regular surveys of the profession, the last of which was in 2010, and concluded that there was not a shortage of farm animal vets.
	Later this year, the first cohort of veterinarians will graduate from Nottingham university. The veterinary labour market is quite fluid with veterinarians from across the EU and further afield registering to practice in the UK.

EDUCATION

Adoption

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what support his Department provides to parents who are considering  (a) having and  (b) adopting a baby.

Tim Loughton: Advice for people who are considering having a baby is available from local NHS services. In addition, the NHS Choices website offers a great deal of advice and information on pregnancy and on parenting in the early years. The relevant pages of the website can be found at:
	http://www.nhs.uk/Planners/pregnancycareplanner/Pages/PregnancyHome.aspx
	http://www.nhs.uk/planners/birthtofive/Pages/Birthtofivehome.aspx
	People who are considering adopting a child can also approach their local authority or a voluntary adoption agency, such as the British Association for Adoption and Fostering, for advice.

Childhood and Families Taskforce

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what work has been completed by Ministers and officials in his Department as part of the Childhood and Families Taskforce.

Sarah Teather: The Prime Minister set up the Childhood and Families Task Force to ensure policies across different departments come together to tackle some of the major obstacles to a happy childhood and a successful family life.
	As a result the Chancellor announced in the spending review that we will extend 15 hours a week of free early education and care to all disadvantaged two-year-old children from 2012-13, building on the existing universal provision for three and four-year-olds, we have ensured there is enough funding within the Early Intervention Grant to retain a national network of Sure Start Children's Centres and enable local authorities to meet their statutory duties. The network of children's centres provides the foundation for stronger, early joined-up working, offering universal services for all families and targeted services focused on families in greatest need. The spending review also announced a national campaign to support families with multiple problems. In July, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and I launched a review on early intervention (led by the hon. Member for Nottingham North (Mr Allen)) and more recently the Prime Minister announced a review of the commercialisation and premature sexualisation of childhood (led by Reg Bailey). The Prime Minister also used this occasion to commit to long-term funding to put relationship support services on a secure footing.

Children in Care: Disability

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of children in care were recorded as having physical disabilities in each of the last 10 years.

Tim Loughton: The proportion of looked after children who were recorded as being in need of services due to their disability in each of the last 10 years, is shown in the following table. Information on the nature of a looked after child's disability, whether physical or otherwise, is not collected by the Department.
	
		
			  Children looked after at 31 March owing to disability( 1,2,3,4) . Years ending 31 March 2001 to 2010. Coverage: England 
			  Numbers and percentages 
			   2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  2009  2010 
			 All children looked after at 31 March 58,800 59,600 60,800 61,300 61,000 60,300 60,000 59,400 60,900 64,400 
			 Number of children looked after owing to disability 2,400 2,500 2,500 2,400 2,400 2,400 2,300 2,300 2,200 2,200 
			 Percentage of Children looked after owing to disability 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 
			 (1) Numbers above 1000 have been rounded to the nearest 100. Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number. (2) Figures exclude children looked after under an agreed series of short-term placements. (3) Historical data may differ from older publications. This is mainly due to the implementation of amendments and corrections sent by some local authorities after the publication date of previous materials. (4) "Disability" covers any form of disability as the data collected do not specify the type.  Source: SSDA 903 
		
	
	Only the main reason (or primary need) is recorded against each looked after child. Consequently some looked after children may have come into care for another reason, but also have a disability.

Children: Foster Care

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his policy is on the ability of  (a) Christians and  (b) those with religious beliefs to adopt or foster children.

Tim Loughton: The Government are committed to encouraging people from all walks of life and all religions to come forward to foster or adopt looked after children. The revised National Minimum Standards coming into force on 1 April 2011make clear that anyone interested in becoming a foster carer or adoptive parent should be treated fairly, without prejudice, openly and with respect. The statutory frameworks for foster care and adoption certainly do not prevent a person holding Christian or other particular religious beliefs from becoming a foster carer or adoptive parent.
	As a society we owe carers, and adoptive parents, a great debt of gratitude. That is why, on 18 March, I celebrated with key partners in the fostering sector the launch of a Foster Carers' Charter, which aims to unite foster carers, fostering services and local authorities behind a shared understanding of foster care.

Curriculum

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he plans to include emergency life skills in the national curriculum; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: We have no plans to introduce emergency life skills in the national curriculum. The non-statutory programmes of study for Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education currently provide a context for schools to teach children and young people how to recognise and follow health and safety procedures, including ways of reducing risk and minimising harm in risky situations, how to find sources of emergency help and how to use emergency and basic first aid. Schools often ask organisations such as the Red Cross and St John Ambulance to provide pupils with information about first aid and dealing with emergency and risky situations.
	We have announced an internal review into PSHE and further details will be available in due course.

Departmental Consultants

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much his Department has spent on consultants since May 2010.

Tim Loughton: The departmental spend on consultants between May 2010 and February 2011 (latest available figures) is £19,654,848. The equivalent figure between May 2009 and February 2010 was £43,087,119.

Departmental Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which public bodies sponsored by his Department  (a) have been and  (b) are to be closed, merged or reorganised following his appointment; and how many (i) women and (ii) men who are public appointees at each body will no longer hold such an appointment in consequence.

Tim Loughton: The coalition Government are committed to increasing the accountability of public bodies, and this involves reducing their number and their cost to the taxpayer. The proposals for the majority of bodies across all Departments were announced and published on 14 October 2010. An updated list reflecting changes since October 2010 has been published on the Cabinet Office website this month and can be found on:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/public-bodies-reform-proposals-change
	Summary information on public appointments is published annually by the Cabinet Office. This includes data on gender. Copies of the most recent report can be downloaded from:
	www.civilservice.gov.uk/ndpb

Departmental Public Bodies

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 16 March 2011,  Official Report, columns 9-10WS, on the public bodies reform programme, what estimate he has made of the savings to his Department net of costs incurred in the assumption of additional departmental responsibilities to accrue from the abolition of 11 public bodies within his Department's area of responsibility.

Tim Loughton: holding answer 21 March 2011
	On 16 March 2011,  Official Report, columns 9-10WS, the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), issued a written ministerial statement updating Parliament on progress on public bodies reform. That statement also announced that Departments estimate cumulative administrative savings of at least £2.6 billion will flow from public bodies over the spending review period.
	I anticipate net overall administrative savings from structural reforms over the spending review period of approximately £592 million. Overall administrative reductions from reform of all departmental public bodies are estimated to be up to £674 million over the spending review period.

Football: South Africa

Graham Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much his Department spent on entertainment activities related to the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Tim Loughton: The Department did not spend anything on entertainment relating to the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Free Schools

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 28 February 2011,  Official Report, column 264W, on free schools, what the name is of each of the 60 unsuccessful applicants to establish a free school.

Nick Gibb: In the interests of personal privacy, we will not be issuing details of unsuccessful proposers.

GCSE: Disability

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effect of the rules on controlled assessment of GCSE courses on disabled children undertaking distance learning who experience difficulties in attending examination centres; and what estimate he has made of the number of such children there were in the latest period for which figures are available.

Nick Gibb: Controlled assessment was introduced into GCSEs in most subjects in 2009. We are aware that it is causing significant issues for schools, colleges and students and we are working with the independent regulator, Ofqual, and with awarding organisations on what can be done to address these issues.
	The Department does not collect information on the number of children with special educational needs undertaking controlled assessment as part of a GCSE examination.

GCSE: Standards

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of students obtained a C grade or higher in  (a) history,  (b) physics,  (c) French,  (d) German,  (e) Spanish and  (f) chemistry GCSE in (i) 1990, (ii) 1997, (iii) 2007 and (iv) 2010.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is provided in the following tables:
	
		
			  Percentage of all pupils attempting each subject who obtained a grade C or higher in history, physics, French, German, Spanish and chemistry GCSE for the years 1990, 1997, 2007 and 2010 
			   1990  1997  2007  2010 
			 History 49 57 67 70 
			 Physics 53 89 92 94 
			 French 47 49 66 72 
			 German 57 54 71 75 
			 Spanish 51 52 69 74 
			 Chemistry 53 89 92 94 
		
	
	
		
			  Percentage of pupils( 1)  in all schools who obtained a grade C or higher in history, physics, French, German, Spanish and chemistry GCSE in 1990, 1997, 2007 and 2010 
			   1990  1997  2007  2010 
			 History n/a 19 21 22 
			 Physics n/a 5 7 16 
			 French n/a 25 19 18 
			 German n/a 11 8 8 
			 Spanish n/a 3 6 7 
			 Chemistry n/a 5 7 17 
			 n/a = not available (1) For 1997, pupils aged 15 at the start of the academic year. For 2007 and 2010, pupils at the end of key stage 4.

Leeds School Sports Partnership West

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of children in schools in the Leeds School Sports Partnership West area accessed three hours per week of physical education and school sport in  (a) 2008-09 and  (b) 2009-10.

Tim Loughton: The Priesthorpe school sport partnership covers schools in the Leeds West constituency. The annual PE and sport survey showed that 35% of children in years 1-11 in the Priesthorpe school sport partnership took part in at least three hours PE and sport per week in 2008/09, with 53% doing so in 2009/10.

Leeds School Sports Partnership West

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of young people in schools in the Leeds School Sports Partnership West area participated in sports leadership courses in  (a) 2004 and  (b) 2010.

Tim Loughton: The Priesthorpe school sport partnership covers schools in the Leeds West constituency. The annual PE and sport survey showed that 5% of children in years 1-11 in the Priesthorpe school sport partnership took part in sports leadership activities in 2003/04, with 19% of them doing so in 2009/10.

Leeds School Sports Partnership West

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of pupils in years 1 to 11 in schools in the Leeds School Sports Partnership West area participated in at least one inter-schools sports competition in  (a) 2004 and  (b) 2010.

Tim Loughton: The Priesthorpe school sport partnership covers schools in the Leeds West constituency. The annual PE and sport survey showed that 39% of children in years 1-11 in the Priesthorpe school sport partnership took part in at least one inter-school sport competition in 2003/04, with 72% of them doing so in 2009/10.

Leeds School Sports Partnership West

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many staff hours were funded by the Leeds School Sports Partnership West in academic year 2010-11; and how many such hours he expects to be funded in academic year 2011-12.

Tim Loughton: This information is not held centrally in the format requested. However, the Department currently funds the following posts in the Priesthorpe school sport partnership: one full-time partnership development manager; seven school sport co-ordinators for two days a week each; 34 primary link teachers for 12 days a year each; and one further education sport co-ordinator for two days a week.
	All secondary schools in the Leeds West constituency will receive funding from the Department for Education from September 2011 to enable a PE teacher to be released from timetable for one day a week to increase opportunities for competitive sport. In addition, if Priesthorpe applies for a school games organiser post, then they will receive funding from DCMS and DH to enable that post holder to work for three days a week to carry out the role of school games organiser. Schools can use their own funds to top up this post to a full-time role, if they wish.

Leeds School Sports Partnership West

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of children in schools in the Leeds School Sports Partnership West area accessed two hours per week of physical education in curriculum time in  (a) 2006 and  (b) 2010.

Tim Loughton: The Priesthorpe school sport partnership covers schools in the Leeds West constituency. The annual PE and sport survey showed that 90% of children in years 1-11 in the Priesthorpe school sport partnership took part in at least two hours physical education in curriculum time in 2005/06, with 83% of them doing so in 2009/10.

Leeds School Sports Partnership West

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what percentage of children in schools in the Leeds School Sports Partnership West area accessed two hours per week of physical education and school sport in  (a) 2003-04 and  (b) 2007-08.

Tim Loughton: The Priesthorpe school sport partnership covers schools in the Leeds West constituency. The annual PE and sport survey showed that 42% of children in years 1-11 in the Priesthorpe school sport partnership took part in at least two hours physical education and sport in 2003/04, with 90% of them doing so in 2007/08.

Parent Teacher Associations

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of schools have a parent teacher association in each local education authority.

Nick Gibb: The Department does not collect data on the numbers of Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) in each local authority but the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations (NCPTA) estimate that around 19,000 schools (75%) in England have some form of PTA of which 12,482 (66%) are members of the NCPTA.

Parenting Classes

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to deliver parenting classes within the school curriculum;
	(2)  whether he has made an estimate of the number of schools which offer parenting classes to their pupils.

Nick Gibb: The non-statutory programmes of study for Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education in England currently provide a context within which schools teach pupils about the importance of parenting. In particular, the personal well-being programme of study sets out how young people should learn about the roles and responsibilities of parents, carers, children and other family members, as well as the skills and qualities needed in parenting, and their importance to family life.
	Our aim for the national curriculum is to reduce unnecessary prescription, bureaucracy and central control and to give schools and teachers greater control over what is taught. We do not therefore propose to ask schools to report on the content of their lessons, especially those that are non-statutory.
	The recent report from the Centre for Education and Inclusion Research showed that between 63% and 70% of secondary schools (dependent on year group) were teaching all PSHE education elements at KS3 and KS4. Ofsted's report on the teaching of PSHE found that overall provision was good or outstanding in three quarters of the schools visited, but sex and relationship education, drugs and alcohol teaching and mental health issues were dealt with superficially.
	We have said we want all pupils to benefit from high quality PSHE education and in the Schools White Paper 2010, "The Importance of Teaching", we announced our intention to hold an internal review of PSHE. As part of that review we expect to visit Manchester Academy to understand the work they have undertaken on incorporating parenting classes into the curriculum.
	Notwithstanding the work in Manchester Academy, evidence shows that the most valuable parenting skills are best taught through a mix of practical application and teaching, which is likely to be more effective the closer it is to the age at which people have children-the average age for people to have their first child in England is in their late 20s.

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what responsibilities have been transferred from the Qualifications Curriculum and Development Authority; and which bodies have assumed each of those responsibilities;
	(2)  what responsibilities the Qualifications Curriculum and Development Authority will retain in financial year 2011-12;
	(3)  how many staff were employed by the Qualifications Curriculum and Development Authority in  (a) 2009-10 and  (b) 2010-11; and how many he expects to be employed at that body at the end of financial year 2011-12;
	(4)  what discussions he has had with representatives of  (a) private sector companies and  (b) voluntary organisations on the future of the Qualifications, Curriculum and Development Authority since his appointment.

Nick Gibb: holding answer 23 March 2011
	A decision was taken to transfer some of the functions currently being carried out by the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA) in preparation for its planned closure by March 2012.
	The following responsibilities or functions have already transferred from QCDA:
	
		
			  Number  Function  Destination 
			 1 Research Evidence Management Systems (REMS) Ofqual 
			 2 Evaluation of new A levels and GCSEs The Department for Education 
			 3 Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) Ofqual 
		
	
	There are a number of research functions that are due to transfer by the end of 2010-11.
	
		
			  Number  Function  Destination 
			 1 Maths GCSE Linked Pair Pilot The Department for Education 
			 2 Maths GCSE Linked Pair Pilot Evaluation The Department for Education 
			 3 International Review of Curriculum and Assessment Frameworks Internet Archive (INCA) The Department for Education 
		
	
	Alongside the decisions on transferring functions, the Department is working closely with the management team in QCDA to ensure that staff are consulted and provided with all the support and information they need before functions are transferred. In taking these decisions, consideration is given to staff rights under the Cabinet Office's COSOP arrangements (Cabinet Office Statement of Practice) and the Transfer of Undertaking (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE).
	In 2009-10, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) employed 683 members of staff. 535 of these members of staff remained in QCDA when QCA split into QCDA and Ofqual. In 2010-11, QCDA employed 416 members of staff. It is expected that there will be no staff employed by QCDA by the end of financial year 2011-12 as it is due to close in March 2012.
	Ministers and the Department have discussed the implications of QCDA's closure with a wide range of bodies including awarding bodies and their representatives, as well as other interested governmental bodies such as Ofqual. Decisions about which functions are to continue and which are to be transferred are set out clearly in the Secretary of State's letters to QCDA's chair.

Redundancy

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his most recent estimate is of the reduction by April 2012 in jobs which will result from his proposed changes to non-departmental public bodies for which his Department is responsible; and what proportion and number of those reductions are to staff based in Coventry.

Tim Loughton: The Department is still working through the details of the proposed changes to the non-departmental bodies for which it is responsible and therefore cannot say, at this stage, what the effect of the reductions will be on staffing levels in Coventry.
	I have asked officials in the Department to write to you about the impact of reforming non-departmental bodies on staff based in Coventry once relevant decisions have been made.

Religion: GCSE

Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of  (a) Year 11 students and  (b) students in other years took GCSE examinations in religious education, religious studies or similar subjects in each of the last five years.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is in the following table and covers pupils in all schools(1).
	(1) Includes independent schools as well as hospital schools and Pupil Referral Units.
	
		
			  Year( 1)  No. of pupils in year 11 who have taken GCSE Religious Education( 2)  % of pupils in year 11 who have taken GCSE Religious Education( 2)  No. of pupils in other years who have taken GCSE Religious Education( 2)  % of pupils in other years who have taken GCSE Religious Education( 2) 
			 2006 143,488 22.1 1,399 0.2 
			 2007 153,800 23.5 1,449 0.2 
			 2008 162,549 24.9 1,616 0.2 
			 2009 165,678 26.1 1,591 0.3 
			 2010 174,865 27.3 1,457 0.2 
			 (1) Figures for 2010 are revised and all other figures are final. (2) Includes Religious Education and Religious Studies.  Source: School and College Performance Tables

Schools: Admissions

Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent representations he has received on arrangements for admissions to the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: We have received a number of letters in relation to governance issues at Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School. In a small number of these admission issues are mentioned.
	It is for the independent Schools Adjudicator to consider any objections to schools' admission arrangements. For Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School, the Schools Adjudicator reached a determination on 18 December 2009 which can be found at:
	http://www.schoolsadjudicator.gov.uk/upload/ADA1720%20Cardinal%20Vaughan%20Revised%2025May2010.doc
	Following the Schools Adjudicator's decision, the school, which is its own admission authority, has now revised its admission arrangements in accordance with the Adjudicator's determination.

Schools: Assessments

Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the weighted average Key Stage 2 results were of pupils starting Year 7 in  (a) Church of England,  (b) Catholic,  (c) other denominational or faith and  (d) other maintained schools (i) in each local authority area and (ii) nationally in each of the last five years.

Nick Gibb: The information can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Schools: Finance

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to announce national funding formula for schools for 2012.

Nick Gibb: In our White Paper 'The Importance of Teaching' we said our long-term aim was to move to a national funding formula. We will publish a consultation this spring on the merits of moving to such a formula, the right time to begin the transition to a formula, the transitional arrangements necessary to ensure that schools and local authorities do not suffer undue turbulence, and the factors to take into account in order to assess the needs of pupils for funding purposes.

Schools: Sports

Simon Danczuk: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much his Department allocated for schools sport in Rochdale in each of the last two financial years; and how much he plans to allocate for such purposes in each of the next two financial years.

Tim Loughton: The grant allocated for school sports in the Rochdale local authority area for 2009/10 and 2010/11 is set out in the table.
	
		
			   School Sport Partnership grant (£)( 1)  FE Sport Co-ordinators (£)  Coaching (£)  Swimming (£)  Competition Manager (£)  Total (£) 
			 2009/10 440,987 13,050 43,000 11,277 34,500 542,814 
			 2010/11(2) 392,624 18,488 43,000 11,277 34,500 499,889 
			 (1) Includes Partnership Development Managers, School Sport Co-ordinators and Primary Link Teachers (2) Anticipated. 
		
	
	The Department's email of 21 December 2010 to School Sport Partnerships announced that £65 million will be available to secondary schools to release a PE teacher for one day a week for school years 2011/12 and 2012/13. We are currently considering how best to make the payments to schools and will inform schools about the arrangements separately, as soon as possible.

Science: GCSE

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 9 February 2011,  Official Report, column 345W, on GCSE: science, 
	(1)  what form support to schools to offer triple science will take;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to increase the number and quality of science teachers.

Nick Gibb: Future support to schools to offer GCSE triple science is dependent on the more detailed outcome of the spending review which has yet to be announced.
	We are investigating a number of proposals that will improve the training of teachers so that standards of teaching are raised in schools. It is the Government's ambition to improve the prestige of the profession so that it attracts the highest quality entrants and to base more initial teacher training in schools so that trainees spend as much time in the classroom, learning from the best teachers. For example, we have already announced plans to expand the successful scheme Teach First so that more schools (including for the first time primary schools) may benefit from the talents of the country's best graduates. Three quarters of Teach First participants teach the most demanding shortage subjects, including science. Expanding the scheme should therefore help boost the supply of science teachers.
	The Schools White Paper 2010, "The Importance of Teaching", also sets out the Government's commitment to attract more of the best graduates of shortage subjects, including science, into teaching. We are reviewing the routes into teaching and the incentives offered to well qualified people who want to teach priority subjects; and will shortly publish a strategy document for discussion setting out our plans for funding initial teacher training from academic year 2012/13.

Teachers: Training

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many  (a) initial teacher training places and  (b) Teach First places there were at each higher education institution in the academic year (i) 2009-10 and (ii) 2010-11; how many he expects there to be in the academic year 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: holding answer 22 March 2011
	In 2009/10, 31,050 mainstream places were allocated by the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) to higher education institutions and this decreased slightly to 30,990 places in 2010/11. The provisional number of places allocated for 2011/12 is 27,680 but this could change as recruitment patterns emerge.
	The number of places allocated to each higher education institution by the TDA in 2009/10 and 2010/11 is shown in the table.
	The number of Teach First places in higher education institutions (HEI) was 485 in 2009/10 and 560 in 2010/11. The number of Teach First HEI places for 2011/12 has yet to be confirmed.
	
		
			  Higher education institutions: allocated number of initial teacher training places, years: 2009/10 and 2010/11, coverage: England 
			   2009/10  2010/11 
			 Total higher education institutions 31,046 30,988 
			
			 Anglia Ruskin University 297 315 
			 University of Bath 178 166 
			 Bath Spa University 495 479 
			 University of Birmingham 330 344 
			 Birmingham City University 535 558 
			 Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln 377 401 
			 Bradford College 321 320 
			 University of Brighton, School of Education 681 728 
			 University of Bristol 247 242 
			 Brunei University 342 325 
			 University of Cambridge 439 439 
			 Canterbury Christ Church University 1,397 1,273 
			 Central School of Speech and Drama 36 32 
			 University of Chester 290 276 
			 University of Chichester 427 428 
			 University of Derby 183 198 
			 University of Durham 383 369 
			 University of East Anglia 352 351 
			 University of East London 448 476 
			 Edge Hill University 1,332 1,375 
			 University of Exeter 597 592 
			 University of Gloucestershire 493 463 
			 Goldsmiths University 498 504 
			 University of Greenwich 488 490 
			 University of Hertfordshire 401 412 
			 University of Huddersfield 175 169 
			 University of Hull 384 392 
			 Keele University 212 231 
			 King's College London 214 215 
			 Kingston University 303 309 
			 University of Leeds 359 360 
			 Leeds Metropolitan University 253 253 
			 University of Leicester 312 309 
			 Liverpool Hope University 816 812 
			 Liverpool John Moores University 514 543 
			 London Metropolitan University 295 308 
			 London South Bank University 240 257 
			 Loughborough University 130 129 
			 University of Manchester 378 388 
			 Manchester Metropolitan University 1,179 1,174 
			 Middlesex University 486 490l 
			 University of Newcastle 250 232 
			 Newman University College 498 453 
			 University of Northampton 226 232 
			 Northumbria University 294 288 
			 University of Nottingham 265 261 
			 Nottingham Trent University 433 393 
			 The Open University 254 253 
			 University of Oxford 190 189 
			 Oxford Brookes University 476 507 
			 University of Plymouth 327 353 
			 University of Portsmouth 140 140 
			 University of Reading 315 323 
			 Roehampton University 706 689 
			 University of Sheffield 153 148 
			 Sheffield Hallam University 738 778 
			 University of Southampton 451 429 
			 St Mary's University College 572 557 
			 Staffordshire University 52 51 
			 University of Sunderland 411 442 
			 University of Sussex 170 169 
			 Leeds Trinity and All Saints 319 287 
			 University College Birmingham 30 34 
			 University College Plymouth St Mark and St John 415 394 
			 University of Bedfordshire 482 511 
			 University of Cumbria 1,392 1,413 
			 Institute of Education, University of London 1,041 960 
			 University of Warwick 456 464 
			 University of The West of England 469 455 
			 University of Winchester 309 324 
			 University of Wolverhampton 397 352 
			 University of Worcester 463 487 
			 York St John University College 395 385 
			 University of York 140 140 
			  Source: TDA's ITT Trainee Numbers Census

Teachers: Training

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will amend the membership of the Qualified Teacher Status review panel to include initial teacher training providers.

Nick Gibb: holding answer 23 March 2011
	The Secretary of State for Education has already appointed a group of practitioners and experts led by Sally Coates, Principal of Burlington Danes Academy, to review the whole framework of teachers' standards which includes the Qualified Teacher Status standards. There is a range of experience of initial teacher training provision on the group, both from the perspective of schools and from Teach First. The group is currently considering how it will engage other experts, the profession and its representatives and those who use the standards, including ITT providers.

Theft

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what items with a value of over £100 have been taken without authorisation from his Department since his appointment; and what steps have been taken to recover such items.

Tim Loughton: Since May 2010 four laptop computers and five BlackBerrys have been stolen. In each case the Department's incident reporting process was followed and the theft was reported to the police.

Welsh Language

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when his Department last published a Welsh language scheme in accordance with the provisions of the Welsh Language Act 1993; and at which web addresses such schemes can be accessed in  (a) Welsh and  (b) English.

Tim Loughton: We are working with our colleagues in the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish administrations to update the concordats which outline how we will work together in order to reflect recent changes to the policy areas which are devolved and to the name of the Department for Education. We plan to update the Welsh Language Scheme once these concordats have been signed-off. Until then, the Welsh Language Scheme published by the Department for Education and Skills in 2000 will apply. This can be found at the following address:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/cymraeg/
	Further schemes will be published on the Department for Education's website at:
	www.education.gov.uk

Written Questions: Government Responses

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to answer questions  (a) 32855, 32870, 32871, 32872, 32873, 32874, 32877, 32878, 32879, 32880 and 32881 tabled on 21 December 2010 for answer on 10 January 2011 and  (b) 33292 and 33370 tabled on 10 January 2011 for answer on 12 January 2011.

Sarah Teather: A response to the hon. Member's question 32855 has been issued today. Responses to the remaining hon. Member's questions were answered as follows:
	PQs 32870, 32871, 32872, 32873 and 32874 issued on 1 March 2011,  Official Report, columns 344-45W.
	PQ 32877 issued on 4 March 2011,  Official Report, columns 648-49W.
	PQs 32878 and 33370 issued on 4 March 2011,  Official Report, column 652W.
	PQs 32879 and 32881 issued on 4 March 2011,  Official Report, columns 653-54W.
	PQ 32880 issued on 4 March 2011,  Official Report, columns 648-49W.
	PQ 33292 issued on 15 March 2011,  Official report, column 175W.

Youth Clubs: Finance

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many youth clubs received funding from his Department and its predecessors in each of the last five years.

Tim Loughton: The Department does not collect information on the numbers of youth clubs or on whether they are supported by funding from the Department.

CABINET OFFICE

Cabinet: Bradford and Derby

Bob Stewart: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 10 March 2011,  Official Report, column 1292W, on meetings: public expenditure, what the cost to the public purse under each category of expenditure was of holding Cabinet meetings in  (a) Bradford and  (b) Derby.

Francis Maude: Ministers travelled to the Cabinet meeting in Bradford by train. A coach was hired at a cost £750 to transport Ministers from Leeds train station to the venue and back to the station. Ministers combined their attendance with visits to services and projects in the area. Departments will have incurred additional costs associated with travel to Leeds train station but this information is not held centrally by the Cabinet Office. The total cost of hiring the venue for the Cabinet meeting in Bradford was £2,279 including catering and other related costs. Therefore, the central cost of the Cabinet meeting in Bradford was £3,029.50.
	Full costs for the Cabinet meeting in Derby on 7 March 2011 are not yet known but are expected to be similar or lower to those of the Bradford event.

Census

Tessa Munt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what mechanism has been put in place to ensure the security of data during the 2011 Census process;
	(2)  whether his Department takes into account ethical considerations when tendering contracts for  (a) the Census and  (b) other UK social statistical tasks.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated March 2011:
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS) I have been asked to reply to your recent questions to the Minister for the Cabinet Office asking (1) what mechanism has been put in place to ensure the confidentiality of data during the 2011 Census process (46951) and (2) whether his Department takes into account ethical consideration when tendering contracts for (a) the Census and (b) other UK social statistical tasks (47079).
	(1) Security has been a fundamental aspect and is built into the whole of the census design. The broad principles and strategic approach covering the privacy, security and confidentiality aspects of census information were set out in Chapter 6 of the White Paper "Helping to shape tomorrow" (CM 7513), laid before Parliament in December 2008.
	Following the appointment of Lockheed Martin UK as the supplier of the main data processing services ONS put in place additional contractual and operational arrangements to ensure that:
	all data processing will be carried out in the UK;
	ONS retains ownership of the data;
	the only people who have access to the full census dataset in the operational data centre will be ONS staff;
	no staff from either Lockheed Martin (the US parent) or Lockheed Martin UK have access to any personal census data;
	ONS controls system access rights to all data systems; and
	everyone working with census data signs declarations of confidentiality.
	A joint ONS/supplier security team has been overseeing the security of the census data capture operations, including the online census.
	The online census was built with data security as a primary requirement and meets government-information assurance and data security standards, as well as ISO 27001, the industry standard for information security management. The online system has been subject to rigorous security tests, and underwent a formal accreditation process before it went live. The system has been subject to security testing by Logica and, in addition, ONS commissioned its own independent security testing, which has been carried out by SOPRA, a CESG approved CHECK service provider. Any vulnerabilities identified have been rectified in line with the recommendations.
	An independent review of security has also been carried out and the report was published on 11 February. The report "2011 Census: Independent Information Assurance Review" can be found on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) website at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/census/2011-census/2011-census-project/commitment-to-confidentiality/index.html
	(2) a) and b) In tendering for all contracts, including for the main outsourced operations for the 2011 Census, ONS carries out fully compliant procurements in accordance with the requirements of European law and the European Union Procurement Directives, which have been incorporated into English law. The foundations of the rules are fairness and transparency. Any organisation with the correct technical capability, financial stability and relevant experience therefore has the opportunity to compete openly for Government business throughout the European Union without discrimination. The tendering process for support services for the 2011 Census covered the technical ability to provide the services, the cost and the assessment of risks associated with such services. There were six main overarching evaluation criteria that were applied to determine the chosen suppliers. These were:
	compliance with requirements listed in the statement of requirements as mandatory
	value for money
	understanding of the business needs
	technical capability of the proposed solution
	legal/contractual assessment
	risks

Departmental Assets

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office which fixed assets his Department has sold since June 2010; and what the  (a) sale value and  (b) name of the purchaser of each such asset was.

Francis Maude: Since June 2010 only low value items have been sold. Proceeds totalled £1,733. Details of individual purchasers could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Theft

Luciana Berger: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what items with a value of over £100 have been taken without authorisation from his Department since his appointment; and what steps have been taken to recover such items.

Francis Maude: The Cabinet Office has recorded three official items of electronic equipment to the value of £325.
	All reported lost or stolen items are investigated with a view to recovering the items, each case is reviewed to determine any increased vulnerability to our security.

Efficiency and Reform Group

Tessa Jowell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the cost to the public purse of the Efficiency and Reform Group has been in the financial year 2010-11 to date.

Francis Maude: The Efficiency and Reform Group has been brought together in Cabinet Office to make Government more efficient and to radically reform the way public services are provided. The group has brought together expertise from across Government from different parts of Cabinet Office, HM Treasury, DirectGov and the Office of Government Commerce. Information about the costs of the Efficiency and Reform Group will only be available for release after the Department's Resource Accounts for 2010-11 have been audited and laid before Parliament.

Stress

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what arrangements his Department has in place to  (a) reduce levels of and  (b) support staff diagnosed with work-related stress;
	(2)  what arrangements are in place in his Department to  (a) reduce levels of work-based stress and  (b) provide assistance to staff diagnosed with such stress.

Francis Maude: The Cabinet Office is committed to the health and well-being of its staff and has policies, procedures and support in place to identify, manage and reduce workplace stress. Additionally the Cabinet Office has an independent Counselling and Support service in place that is available to all staff.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Boarding Schools

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether his Department provides financial assistance to his officials for boarding school fees for their children.

Alan Duncan: The Department for International Development (DFID) reimburses employees on overseas postings for private schooling overseas or boarding school fees in the UK for their children, within financial ceilings.
	The terms and conditions of employment in DFID are set in order to recruit, motivate and retain staff who are skilled and equipped to meet DFID's objectives. Those with children have a legal obligation as parents to ensure that their children receive a full-time education from the age of five, and they pay UK tax wherever they work. Most parents prefer to take their children with them, but in some countries they are not permitted to do so, either for health or security reasons. Continuity of education is also an important factor, particularly at secondary level.

Departmental Theft

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what items with a value of over £100 have been taken without authorisation from his Department since his appointment; and what steps have been taken to recover such items.

Stephen O'Brien: The following items have been reported as taken without authorisation from the Department, since May 2010:
	
		
			  Item  Number stolen  Total value (£) 
			 Laptop 12 3,240 
			 Vehicle 1 1,490 
		
	
	All items taken without authorisation require notification to Internal Audit who carries out an investigation into the circumstances of the loss. All necessary steps are taken to recover the item and prosecutions are taken forward if possible.

Developing Countries: Remittances

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if his Department will establish a mechanism to record information on  (a) recipients of remittance payments from the UK,  (b) the purposes to which remittance payments are put and  (c) the number of people in the UK who send remittance payments abroad.

Andrew Mitchell: The Department for International Development (DFID) relies on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for data on UK transfers. Since the UK ended its foreign exchange control system in 1979, there has been no formal mechanism for recording international transactions including volume, destination and use of remittances from the UK. The ONS has investigated options for collecting remittance data including incorporating specific questions on remittances into household surveys and a planned Home Office (UK Border Agency) Migrant Survey. However, the ONS and the Home Office currently do not have sufficient resources to undertake this work.
	DFID supports the World Bank, which is leading efforts to improve information on global remittance flows and their development impact. The World Bank's Migration and Remittances Factbook provides data on emigration, immigration and remittance flows for 210 countries collated from a range of national and international sources:
	http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/migration-and-remittances
	DFID has no present plans to establish a bilateral mechanism of the type described in the question.

Stress

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what arrangements are in place in his Department to  (a) reduce levels of work-based stress and  (b) provide assistance to staff diagnosed with such stress.

Stephen O'Brien: The Department for International Development (DFID) is committed to the well-being of its employees and manages employee stress using an approach based on Health and Safety Executive standards.
	Guidance on managing stress is available to all staff on the Department's intranet. DFID offers a toolkit for managing pressure at work, stress and work/life balance. The toolkit includes specific support for our staff working overseas, many of whom are based in difficult environments. The Department also has access to occupational health services to support staff diagnosed with stress related illness.

HEALTH

Blood Transfusions

Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many units of prion-filtered red cells have been transfused in the UK as part of the prion-filtered red cells in surgery and multi-transfused patients trial study;
	(2)  how many patients have been transfused with prion-filtered red cells as part of the prion-filtered red cells in surgery and multi-transfused patients trial;
	(3)  when he expects the interim report on the prion-filtered red cells in surgery and multi-transfused patients (PRISM) study trial to be published; and when he expects the PRISM trial study to be completed;
	(4)  what progress has been made in the prion-filtered red cells in surgery and multi-transfused patients study trial.

Anne Milton: As of 16 March 2011, quarter 1, 329 patients have received prion filtered red blood cells, as part of the prion filtered red blood cells in surgery and multi-transfused patients (PRISM) study which has now completed recruitment of patients. Quarter 4 as of that date 942 units of prion filtered red blood cells have been transfused in England and Scotland as part of the study. In addition to the patients who have received prion filtered red blood cells, 273 patients have received standard red blood cells, and approximately 10 patients await surgery.
	Any patients who have not had surgery by 31 March 2011 will be withdrawn from the PRISM study. NHS Blood and Transport will then focus on collecting the eight-week and six-month follow-up blood samples for antibody testing. The final six-month follow-up is expected in October 2011 and a report will be submitted to the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissue and Organs for their consideration in early 2012, with a peer reviewed journal publication later.

Breast Cancer: Health Services

Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to consult on the development of the Breast Cancer Quality Standard; and what form this consultation will take.

Paul Burstow: Details of the Institute's consultations are available from its website at:
	www.nice.org.uk/aboutnice/qualitystandards/qualitystandards.jsp

Breast Cancer: Telephone Services

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward proposals to provide additional funding to the hereditary breast cancer helpline.

Paul Burstow: We recognise that the Hereditary Breast Cancer Helpline provides a valuable service for cancer patients and their families, and a one-off payment of £40,000 was made on 21 March 2011 under the provisions of Section 64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968.

Childbirth

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has been made of potential links between low birth rate and levels of  (a) obesity,  (b) stress and  (c) mental illness in (i) childhood and (ii) later life.

Anne Milton: The Department has not carried out any specific assessment on the potential link between low birth weight and levels of obesity, stress and mental health in childhood and in later life.
	Low birth weight is associated in particular with poorer long-term health and education outcomes. It is because of this association that "Healthy Lives, Healthy People" takes a life course approach to tackling health inequalities and improving health outcomes.
	As part of the Foresight project on "Tackling Obesities: Future Choices", the Government Office for Science's Foresight team commissioned a number of short science review papers. This included a paper on obesity and early years, and another on breastfeeding, early growth and later obesity. A copy of these papers are available at:
	http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-789X.2007 .00344.x/full
	Some research has found that low birth weight increases the risk of suffering from anxiety and depression.

CJD

Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people are enrolled in the National Prion Disease Monitoring Cohort; and how many of those are  (a) in the group of symptomatic patients with confirmed prion disease,  (b) in the group of asymptomatic individuals with confirmed pre-clinical prion infection or disease,  (c) in the group of asymptomatic individuals without a confirmed diagnosis but at increased risk and  (d) in the control group without prion disease.

Anne Milton: The information requested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			   Number 
			 Number of people enrolled in the National Prion Monitoring Cohort 275 
			  (a) Symptomatic patients with confirmed prion disease 208 
			  (b) Asymptomatic individuals with confirmed pre-clinical prion infection or disease 14 
			  (c) Asymptomatic individuals without a confirmed diagnosis but at increased risk 19 
			  (d) Control group without prion disease 34 
			  Source: National Prion Monitoring Cohort (NPMC) project team at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery

Heroin

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many adults who completed addiction treatment successfully in England in 2008-09 were primarily addicted to  (a) heroin,  (b) crack cocaine,  (c ) cocaine,  (d ) amphetamine and  (e) cannabis on presentation for treatment.

Anne Milton: The National Drug Treatment Monitoring System records data on people in drug treatment in England. For 2008-09, the numbers of adults who completed drug treatment successfully for the requested range of primary problem drugs are as follows:
	
		
			  Main problem drug  Number  of adults 
			 Opiates only 7,312 
			 Crack only 2,033 
			 Both opiates and crack 5,081 
			 Amphetamines (excluding ecstasy) 1,113 
			 Cocaine (excluding crack) 4,196 
			 Cannabis 4,044 
			 Other drugs 1,191 
			 Total 24,970

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Daniel Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many parents in  (a) Suffolk primary care trust area and  (b) England did not consent to their daughter receiving the national human papillomavirus vaccine in (i) 2009 and (ii) 2010.

Anne Milton: The requested information is not held by the Department.
	Information about annual human papillomavirus vaccine uptake in England has been published by the Department for the academic years 2008-09 and 2009-10 and can be found at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_111675
	and
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_123795
	respectively.
	However it is not possible to infer from uptake data the proportion of individuals who did not consent to be vaccinated.

Liver Diseases

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department holds on the incidence of  (a) cirrhosis of the liver and  (b) chronic liver disease in each of the last 10 years.

Simon Burns: The Department does not hold information on the incidence rates of these diseases.

Medical Equipment: Safety

Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what procedures his Department uses to assess the safety of medical devices.

Simon Burns: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is the Competent Authority under European Union legislation for medical devices in the United Kingdom: it has responsibility for ensuring that medical devices placed on the UK market meet the requirements of the Medical Devices Regulations. Before placing a medical device on the market, the manufacturer must meet the relevant safety, quality and performance requirements set out in the regulations and apply the CE marking of conformity. Any assessment required under the regulations is carried out by a third party independent certification organisation known as a Notified Body. The Agency is not part of this certification process but does designate and audit UK Notified Bodies as being competent to undertake this task and also assesses pre-market clinical investigation protocols. The Agency has a mainly post market surveillance role which includes assessment of adverse incidents brought to its attention and enforcement where breaches of the regulations have been identified.

Mental Health Services

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of patients treated for mental health disorders in NHS facilities received  (a) drugs,  (b) psychological therapy,  (c) mindfulness meditation and  (d) a combination of such approaches in the latest period for which figures are available.

Paul Burstow: We do not collect all of the information in the format requested. All mental health patients who are admitted to hospital will have a responsible clinician. 21.1% of them also have contact with a psychologist or psychotherapist.
	
		
			  Number of people using adult and elderly national health service secondary mental health services and the proportion who had contact with a clinical psychologist or psychotherapist, 2009-10 
			   All mental health service users  Clinical psychologist or psychotherapist contact( 1)  Proportion of mental health service users with a clinical psychologist or psychotherapist contact (percentage) 
			 Total number of people 1,270,731 168,486 13.3 
			  Of which:
			 Admitted to Hospital 107,765 22,713 21.1 
			  Note: Count of mental health service users who had contact with either a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist during the reporting period.  Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre Mental Health Minimum Dataset (MHMDS) 2003-04 to 2009-10 annual returns.

Mental Illness

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of looked after children were diagnosed with mental illness in the latest period for which figures are available.

Paul Burstow: The Department does not collect this information. However, the Office for National Statistics Psychiatric Morbidity Surveys programme shows that some 45% of looked after children have a mental health disorder, rising to 72% for those in residential care.
	The Department has published statutory guidance on promoting the health and wellbeing of looked after children. In addition, "No health without mental health: delivering better mental health outcomes for people of all ages", published on 2 February 2011, highlighted the mental health needs of looked after children and care leavers and stated that timely and effective health assessments are crucial to the speedy identification of problems and referral to support services.

NHS: Charitable Donations

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether donations made by charities to an NHS trust will be regarded as part of their income under his proposals for NHS reform; and whether such donations will result in a corresponding reduction in the central Government funding allocated to the trust.

Simon Burns: The current Health and Social Care Bill would make no change to the status of NHS charities. The NHS Commissioning Board would allocate funding to general practitioner commissioning consortia on the basis of the prospective burden of disease and disability. This would not be affected by other income received by trusts.

Obesity

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what levels of obesity in each  (a) income and  (b) age decile were in the latest period for which figures are available.

Anne Milton: Information is not available in the format requested.
	Information on the percentage of obese adults by equivalised household income quintiles, in England in 2009, is included in table 7.3 of the 'Health Survey for England-2009: Health and lifestyles' report. Information on the percentage of obese adults by age group is included in table 7.2 of the same report.
	Information on the percentage of obese children (aged 2 to 15) by equivalised household income quintiles, in England in 2009, is included in table 11.3 of the 'Health Survey for England-2009: Health and lifestyles' report. Information on the percentage of obese children by age is included in table 11.2 of the same report.
	The above information is available on the NHS Information Centre's website at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/hse09report
	This publication has already been placed in the Library.

Parenting Classes: Prenatal classes

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of local authorities offer  (a) parenting classes and  (b) pre-natal classes which are free at the point of use.

Anne Milton: The information requested is not collected by the Department.

Plants

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent on indoor and outdoor plants and trees since his appointment.

Simon Burns: The Department has spent a total of £12,383.80 on plants and trees in the period May 2010 to March 2011 for its core headquarters estate. For the period from May 2010 the monthly charge was £1,426.96, this reduced to £598.77 from December 2010 when the Facilities Management contract was awarded to a new provider and we reduced our monthly costs on plants and trees significantly.

Radiotherapy Treatments

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many stereotactic body radiotherapy treatments were carried out  (a) in NHS hospitals and  (b) for NHS patients in each strategic health authority area in the last 12 months.

Paul Burstow: Stereotactic body radiotherapy cannot currently be identified from other forms of radiotherapy treatment using Hospital Episode Statistics data.
	"Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer", published on 12 January, has made clear the importance of high quality information for commissioners, providers, clinicians, patients, researchers and those seeking to scrutinise health services. In line with this, we will consider whether more specific coding of cancer activity is needed in some areas. A copy of the strategy has already been placed in the Library.

Smoking

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effects of the provisions of the Health Act 2006 on reducing the number of  (a) males and  (b) females aged under 17 who (i) smoke and (ii) take up smoking; and if he will make a statement.

Anne Milton: The Health Act 2006 includes provisions for smokefree environments and powers to amend the age of sale of tobacco products.
	Under the powers in the Health Act 2006, the Children and Young Persons (Sales of Tobacco etc.) Order 2007 was made to raise the age of sale for tobacco products from 16 to 18 years. The order came into force in England and Wales on 1 October 2007. While data are not available in the format requested, research published in 2010 found that there was a greater fall in prevalence in 16 and 17-year-olds in England following the increase in the age of sale than in older age groups (Fidler J. and West R. (2010). 'Changes in smoking prevalence in 16-17-year-olds versus older adults following a rise in legal age of sale: findings from an English population study' in "Addiction". 105, pp.1984-8). A copy of this article has been placed in the Library.
	The primary objective of smokefree legislation was to reduce the risk to health from exposure to secondhand smoke, and no assessment has been made of the impact of this legislation on reducing smoking rates among young people. On 9 March 2011, the Department published 'The Impact of Smokefree Legislation in England: Evidence Review'. A copy of this review has already been placed in the Library.

Smoking: Young People

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what proportion of  (a) adults,  (b) children and  (c) young people were recorded as smokers in each of the last 10 years; and what estimate he has made of the equivalent numbers and proportions for each of the next five years.

Anne Milton: Information is not available in the format requested. We hold information for adults (aged 16 and over) and young people (aged 11-15) but we do not hold information for children under 11.
	Information on the prevalence of cigarette smoking by sex in England from 1978 to 2009 can be found in table 1.10 of "General Lifestyle Survey: Smoking and drinking among adults 2009". This is available at:
	www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_compendia/GLF09/GLFSmoking-DrinkingAmongAdults2009.pdf
	A copy has been placed in the Library.
	Table 3.1a of "Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England in 2009" shows smoking behaviour among young people aged 11-15 by sex for the period 1982-2000. Table 3.1b shows the same information for the period 2001-09. These are available at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/sdd09fullreport
	The Department does not hold any forecasted estimates of the prevalence of smoking for either adults or young people. The Government have set ambitions to reduce smoking rates among adults, young people and pregnant women in England by the end of 2015, as described in "Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A tobacco control plan for England", published on 9 March 2011.
	The publications "Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A tobacco control plan for England" and "Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England in 2009" have already been placed in the Library.

Stress

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements are in place in his Department to  (a) reduce levels of work-based stress and  (b) provide assistance to staff diagnosed with such stress.

Simon Burns: The Department provides guidance to all staff and managers on stress recognition and stress management on the departmental intranet. Specifically, the mental health policy covers prevention; early dialogue and identification; mutual understanding of issues and concerns; and sets out the support to individuals and managers to help employees remain at work and perform to the best of their abilities. The support in place includes an occupational health service, which has been designed specifically to meet the needs of staff and managers. There is also a comprehensive employee assistance programme, offering a free counselling service on a 24-hour-a-day, seven-days-a-week basis as well as a helpline for managers. As part of our renewed health and well-being strategy, both the occupational health and employee assistance providers will be working with the Department on organisation-wide initiatives such as developing emotional resilience during times of change.
	Alongside the support for all staff, there is a specific policy covering reasonable adjustments for disabled staff, in line with the requirements of the Equality Act.
	The Department's Health and Well-being Board has set out the indicators that will be used to assess progress against the health and well-being strategy and action plan. These include sickness absence data and, more specifically, absence that is mental health related.

Substance Misuse

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent estimate has been made of addiction rates in each region for  (a) alcohol,  (b) tobacco and  (c) controlled substances.

Anne Milton: Data on alcohol dependence are included in the adult psychiatric morbidity survey, "Adult Psychiatric Morbidity in England, 2007" (APMS), which was published in January 2009. The Department estimates alcohol dependence by reference to a score of 16 or more on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)(1). Estimates of the percentage of alcohol dependent individuals aged 16 or over by region are in the following table.
	(1) AUDIT was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a method of screening for excessive drinking and to help identify alcohol dependence. It consists of 10 questions about recent alcohol use, alcohol dependence symptoms, and alcohol-related problems.
	
		
			  Estimate of the percentage of alcohol dependent( 1)  individuals aged 16 or over by region 
			   Males  Females 
			 North East 10.2 3.7 
			 North West 6.4 2.3 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 6.2 2.7 
			 East Midlands 4.0 2.2 
			 West Midlands 6.7 2.0 
			 East of England 6.2 0.6 
			 London 4.4 1.3 
			 South West 5.7 1.7 
			 South East 5.4 1.9 
			
			 England 5.8 1.9 
			 (1) Scoring 16 or more on the AUDIT.  Note: This definition is consistent with that used in the Alcohol Needs Assessment Research Project (ANARP) published in 2005. ANARP used a cut-off score on the AUDIT of 16 to identify 'moderately or severely dependent' drinkers, and with a view to estimating the need for treatment.  Source: APMS, 2007 
		
	
	In the APMS, alcohol dependence was also assessed using the Severity of Alcohol Dependence Questionnaire (SADQ-C), with a score of four or more indicating mild, moderate or severe dependence. This includes cases of mild dependence not requiring any interventions. The figures for this definition are in the following table.
	
		
			  Percentage prevalence of alcohol dependence by region and sex 
			   Government office r egion 
			  SADQ-C Score( 1)  North East  North West  Yorkshire and the Humber  East Midlands  West Midlands  East of England  London  South West  South East 
			  Men  
			 0-3 92.3 87.4 88.8 91.9 92.1 90.9 93.9 93.1 92.1 
			 4-19 6.9 11.9 10.4 8.1 6.0 7.6 5.5 5.2 7.5 
			 20-34 0.9 0.6 0.8 - 1.9 1.0 0.5 1.7 0.3 
			 35-60 - 0.1 - - - 0.5 - - 0.1 
			 Any dependence 7.7 12.6 11.2 8.1 7.9 9.1 6.1 6.9 7.9 
			   
			  Women  
			 0-3 93.3 95.9 96.9 94.9 96.7 98.3 97.8 97.0 97.2 
			 4-19 6.5 4.1 3.1 5.1 3.1 1.4 2.1 3.0 2.8 
			 20-34 - - - 0.3 - - - - - 
			 35-60 0.2 - 0.1 - 0.1 - - - - 
			 Any dependence 6.7 4.1 3.1 5.1 3.3 1.7 2.2 3.0 2.8 
			 (1) A SADQ-C score of 0-3 = no dependence, 4-19 = mild dependence, 20-34 = moderate dependence and 35-60 = severe dependence  Source: APMS, 2007 
		
	
	Data on prevalence of cigarette smoking among individuals aged 16 years and over in each region in England are collected by the Office for National Statistics and reproduced in the following table for 2009.
	
		
			  Percentage prevalence of cigarette smoking by sex and region for individuals aged 16 or over, 2009 
			   Males  Females 
			 North East 20 23 
			 North West 24 22 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 23 22 
			 East Midlands 19 18 
			 West Midlands 22 21 
			 East of England 20 18 
			 London 26 19 
			 South West 19 17 
			 South East 21 18 
			
			 England 22 20 
			  Source: Smoking and drinking among adults, 2009: A report on the 2009 General Lifestyle Survey 
		
	
	Data on the number or rate of individuals who are dependent on controlled substances are not centrally collected. However, data on those who are opiate and/or crack cocaine dependent, are collected and are given in the following table.
	
		
			  Estimated number of opiate and/or crack cocaine users by region, 2008-09 
			   Estimated number of problem drug users 
			 North East 18,480 
			 North West 52,055 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 39,254 
			 East Midlands 26,034 
			 West Midlands 37,125 
			 East of England 22,871 
			 London 62,769 
			 South West 27,549 
			 South East 35,092 
			   
			 England 321,229 
			  Source: Estimates of the Prevalence of Opiate Use and/or Crack Cocaine Use, 2008-09: Sweep 5 report, The Centre for Drug Misuse Research, University of Glasgow

Surgery: Ashfield

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many operations were carried out in Ashfield constituency in each of the last five years.

Simon Burns: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the following table.
	
		
			  Provider description  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			 Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 44,386 42,038 45,312 49,443 51,679 
			  Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, The NHS Information Centre for health and social care 
		
	
	The NHS Information Centre has provided a count of finished consultant episodes with a named main or secondary procedure or intervention for Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust from 2005-06 to 2009-10.

Theft

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what items with a value of over £100 have been taken without authorisation from his Department since his appointment; and what steps have been taken to recover such items.

Simon Burns: The following departmental assets, valued at over £100, have been reported as lost or stolen since the appointment of the Secretary of State for Health.
	
		
			  Item  Value (£) 
			 3G card 252.53 
			 Blackberry 215.02 
			 Blackberry 215.02 
			 Blackberry 215.02 
			 Blackberry 215.02 
			 Blackberry 215.02 
			 Blackberry 215.02 
			 Blackberry 215.02 
			 Blackberry 215.02 
			 Blackberry 215.02 
			 Blackberry 215.02 
			 Blackberry 215.02 
			 Blackberry 215.02 
			 Blackberry 221.40 
			 Blackberry 215.25 
			 Blackberry 252.91 
			 Blackberry 8520 215.02 
			 Blackberry 8700 215.02 
			 Blackberry 8700 215.02 
			 Blackberry 8700 215.02 
			 Blackberry 8700 215.25 
			 Blackberry 8700 214.20 
			 Blackberry 8700 214.20 
			 Blackberry 8700v 215.02 
			 Blackberry 8700v 215.02 
			 Blackberry 8700v 215.02 
			 Blackberry 8900 154.21 
			 Blackberry curve 215.02 
			 Blackberry curve 215.02 
			 Blackberry curve 215.02 
			 Blackberry 215.02 
			 Palm Treo mobile phone 351.00 
			 IBM laptop 826.71 
			 IBM Thinkpad laptop 885.00 
			 IBM X61 Thinkpad laptop 878.94 
			 Laptop 858.10 
			 Lenovo 200 laptop 893.54 
			 Lenovo laptop 893.54 
			 Lenovo laptop 893.81 
			 Total 13,166.05 
		
	
	Staff are requested to provide a loss report for each item lost or stolen. This includes the circumstances of the loss, description of the item and whether a police report has been made.
	All mobile assets that are reported as lost or stolen with a value over £500 are routinely reported to the police. In addition laptops are marked with a forensic dye and an asset tag. This is combined with the registration of unique serial numbers on the lost Mobile Equipment National Database to aid recovery.

Third Sector

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department provided to each charity it funds in each of the last five years; and how much he has allocated for funding to each such charity in each of the next five years.

Anne Milton: Information about grants awarded to voluntary organisations through the Department's corporate grant schemes for the last five years have been placed in the Library.
	Information on individual grant awards in each of the last five years, where allocated from a specific policy area has not been centrally collected and therefore it is not available. However, the Department has now put in place mechanisms for collecting this information from 2010-11 onwards. Information on grant awards in 2010-11 has been placed in the Library.
	The Department has a voluntary sector grants budget which provides grants to voluntary organisations. The total budget for each of the last five years is as follows:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2006-07 23,764,297 
			 2007-08 25,272,919 
			 2008-09 24,493,002 
			 2009-10 25,017,648 
			 2010-11 25,400,000 
			 2011-12 25,400,000 
		
	
	Information relating to future years will be routinely published on the Department's website at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_118373
	The monetary value of the Department's grants to voluntary sector organisations for 2012-13 and onwards will not be agreed until primary care trust allocations have been decided. However, the Government are committed to ensuring that appropriate support is available to voluntary organisations to enable them to contribute to improving health and well-being, building strong and resilient communities as part of the Big Society.

Tobacco: Packaging

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the Tobacco Action Plan, what timetable he has set for the publication of the conclusions from his planned consultation on options to reduce the promotional impact of tobacco packaging, including plain packaging.

Anne Milton: "Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A Tobacco Control Plan for England" includes the commitment to consult on options to reduce the promotional impact of tobacco packaging, including plain packaging, before the end of 2011. A copy has already been placed in the Library.
	In accordance with the Government Code of Practice on Consultation, this consultation will last for at least 12 weeks. A summary of who responds, the views expressed, any decisions made and the likely forward timetable for any subsequent action will be published after the consultation responses have been considered.

JUSTICE

Coroners: Finance

James Wharton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what estimate has been made of the cost to the public purse incurred in the implementation of his planned reforms to the coronial system;
	(2)  what estimate he made of the cost to the public purse of the creation of the office of chief coroner.

Jonathan Djanogly: As announced in the written ministerial statement on 14 October 2010,  Official Report, columns 36-37WS, changes to the coroners' services will be cost-neutral. The only expenditure incurred to date relates to staff costs for implementing part 1 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009. Since announcing the proposal to abolish the chief coroner on 14 October 2010, staffing costs have been £143,855. In the period between Royal Assent in November 2009 and this announcement, staffing costs were £387,140. The proposal to abolish the chief coroner before the post is fully established means that the estimated £10.9 million set-up costs, and £6.6 million running costs would no longer be incurred by the public purse.

Court: Closures

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the savings to the public purse to accrue from the closure of Bishop Auckland  (a) county court and  (b) magistrates court;
	(2)  how many staff posts will be lost as a result of the closure of Bishop Auckland county court.

Jonathan Djanogly: At the time decisions on the court estate were announced, on 14 December 2010, the estimated gross annual resource savings from the closure of Bishop Auckland magistrates and county court were £123,000 (excluding maintenance, staff costs and non-cash). Work is currently under way to determine the final savings and costs of closure (including transition costs).
	It is not yet possible to confirm the impact on the overall number of posts following the closure of Bishop Auckland county court and other courts in the HMCS area of Cleveland, Durham and Northumbria. However, all staff at the Bishop Auckland courthouse will be relocated to other nearby courts.
	Following the decisions announced on 14 December, HMCS commenced an internal consultation using the Management of Organisational Change Framework (MOCF) to look at staff impacts across the Court Estate Reform Programme. HMCS is conducting discussions with the Department trade union side and with staff (on a one-to-one basis) to consider how the changes will effect them. Only after this process is completed will the final impact on the number of staff posts be known.
	After the MOCF consultation has concluded, HMCS will implement a phased approach to closures from April 2011.

Land Registry: Electronic Government

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent representations he has received on the potential for fraud arising from putting land registry deeds online; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan Djanogly: The register became open to the public in 1990 when the Land Registration Act 1988 came into force. This allowed public inspection and copying of the register and, with the exception of leases and charges, the deeds or documents referred to in the register. The inspection and copying rights were extended in 2003, with the coming into force of the Land Registration Act 2002, allowing leases and charges to be freely available, subject to a transitional period-and exempt information provisions.
	This widening in the availability of Land Registry information was made in the context of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which came into force on 1 January 2005 giving anyone the right to request information from public organisations. The general principle is that a person is entitled to see information held by public organisations unless there is a good reason why it should not be released.
	The opening up of register information was the subject of parliamentary debate and consultation. It was also set in the context of the Government drive for all public authorities to make all citizen services available online, and in light of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
	Registered professional users of Land Registry services have been able to access selected property deeds online since 1994. This has helped facilitate conveyancing and related property transactions and the move towards the electronic delivery of services.
	Citizen access to property information was made available in 2005 through the launch of a website aimed at the general public. In 2007 Land Registry reviewed the online availability of deeds and documents provided by this service. The review led to the removal of those documents from online viewing. Copies of deeds, which are available as of right under land registration legislation, may still be purchased, but only after completing a registration process.
	Land Registry produces a public leaflet entitled "Protect your Property" and stresses the importance of keeping contact addresses up to date as a way of helping to prevent property fraud. Land Registry has a dedicated team dealing with applications from home owners to check their contact addresses and update them as necessary.

Legal Aid Scheme: Family Law

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on what date and in what manner the Commissioners of the Legal Services Commission were informed of  (a) the Commission's 2010 tender for family law services and  (b) the decision of the Commission not to appeal against the judgment in respect of the judicial review of that tender; if he will place in the Library a copy of (i) the minutes of each meeting of the Commission at which the matters were discussed and (ii) any papers on the matters provided to the Commissioners.

Jonathan Djanogly: The Commissioners met regularly to discuss the tender judicial review including some ad hoc telephone conferences. Minutes were taken of all board meetings.
	The minutes of LSC board meetings are routinely published on the LSC website, subject to any relevant exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act, at:
	http://www.legalservices.gov.uk/aboutus/how/commissioners.asp

Legal Aid Scheme: Family Law

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what information the Legal Services Commission  (a) published on its website and  (b) otherwise disseminated in respect of (i) its 2010 family law tender exercise after the hearing in the Divisional Court on the matter in September 2010 and (ii) the steps the Commission planned to take in consequence; on what dates subsequent modifications were made to that information; what modifications were made; and for what reason.

Jonathan Djanogly: The LSC published notification of the outcome of the tender as a news item on its website on 30 September 2010:
	http://legalservices.gov.uk/civil/cls_news_12035.asp?page=5
	Then confirmation that it would not appeal on 27 October 2010:
	http://legalservices.gov.uk/civil/cls_news_12103.asp?page=4
	LSC then published a further statement on the future of family and family and housing contracts on 12 November:
	http://legalservices.gov.uk/civil/cls_news_12188.asp?page=4
	LSC have also published formal contract extension notices on the website for each subsequent extension of the Unified Contract:
	http://www.legalservices.gov.uk/civil/8758.asp
	Further information could not be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.

Legal Aid Scheme: Family Law

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much the Legal Services Commission has spent on the 2010 family law tender exercise to date; how much it has paid to each counsel instructed in respect of the action taken against the Commission; and how much it paid  (a) to the Law Society of England and Wales and  (b) to other parties in costs following the conclusion of the action.

Jonathan Djanogly: The family element of the 2010 legal aid tenders cost in the region of £1 million of project costs over three years. In addition to that, the LSC invested in the region of £600,000 in some e-tendering software, which can be used for three years.
	In relation to the judicial review, the costs to counsel were as follows, inclusive of VAT:
	Counsel 1: £4,010.00
	Counsel 2: £61,981.26
	Counsel 3: £89,391.65.
	The costs to the Law Society have not yet been finally agreed. No other external parties needed to be paid following the conclusion of the action. LSC's in-house lawyers do not have a computerised time recording system and as no claim for costs is to be made by the Commission, a breakdown of the time spent by the in-house legal team on this matter has not been prepared.

Prison Service: Finance

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much HM Prison Service has spent  (a) on each establishment and  (b) in each region in 2010-11 to date; and what it has allocated to each for 2011-12.

Crispin Blunt: The following table provides the National Offender Management Service's resource spend for each public sector prison by region for an eleven month period ending February 2011. The table includes Dover, Haslar and Lindholme (IND) which are immigration removal centres, rather than prisons. High Security prisons are shown separately since these are managed centrally and therefore are not attributed to a geographic region.
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Region  Establishment name  Resource 
			 East Midlands Ashwell 7.5 
			  Foston Hall 8.3 
			  Gartree 15.6 
			  Glen Parva 15.9 
			  Leicester 8.1 
			  Lincoln 13.2 
			  Morton Hall 7.2 
			  North Sea Camp 5.5 
			  Nottingham 20.1 
			  Onley 14.7 
			  Ranby 18.8 
			  Stocken 13.8 
			  Sudbury 6.9 
			  Wellingborough 10.9 
			  Wharton 15.6 
			 East Midlands total  182.2 
			
			 East of England Bedford 10.7 
			  Blundeston 11.3 
			  Bullwood Hall 5.9 
			  Bure 10.1 
			  Chelmsford 16.0 
			  Edmunds Hill 8.3 
			  Highpoint 16.1 
			  Hollesley Bay 6.4 
			  Littlehey 20.2 
			  Mount (The) 15.1 
			  Norwich 14.4 
			  Warren Hill 9.0 
			  Wayland 16.3 
			 East of England total  159.5 
			
			 High Security Belmarsh 35.7 
			  Frankland 35.4 
			  Full Sutton 26.2 
			  Long Lartin 26.1 
			  Manchester 33.0 
			  Wakefield 26.4 
			  Whitemoor 27.5 
			  Woodhill 29.9 
			 High Security total  240.3 
			
			 London Brixton 19.5 
			  Feltham 29.0 
			  Holloway 17.2 
			  Isis 11.1 
			  Latchmere House 4.0 
			  Pentonville 26.6 
			  Wandsworth 31.1 
			  Wormwood Scrubs 24.5 
			 London total  162.9 
			
			 North East Acklington 17.2 
			  Castington 12.2 
			  Deerbolt 12.9 
			  Durham 20.2 
			  Holme House 22.4 
			  Kirklevington Grange 5.0 
			  Low Newton 10.5 
			 North East total  100.4 
			
			 North West Buckley Hall 8.6 
			  Garth 18.3 
			  Haverigg 12.4 
			  Hindley 16.5 
			  Kennet 9.9 
			  Kirkham 11.7 
			  Lancaster Castle 6.8 
			  Lancaster Farms 14.0 
			  Liverpool 23.8 
			  Preston 16.9 
			  Risley 18.9 
			  Styal 12.7 
			  Thorn Cross 7.8 
			  Wymott 20.6 
			 North West total  198.8 
			
			 South East Albany  
			  Aylesbury 11.0 
			  Blantyre House 2.7 
			  Bullingdon 19.2 
			  Canterbury 6.7 
			  Coldingley 12.4 
			  Cookham Wood 8.6 
			  Dover 6.9 
			  Downview 9.1 
			  East Sutton Park 2.4 
			  Ford 7.0 
			  Grendon 8.6 
			  Haslar 3.3 
			  Highdown 20.0 
			  Huntercombe 11.6 
			  Isle of Wight 35.9 
			  Kingston 5.6 
			  Lewes 14.1 
			  Maidstone 10.5 
			  Reading 7.3 
			  Rochester 15.1 
			  Send 7.7 
			  Sheppey Cluster 46.9 
			  Springhill 4.3 
			  Winchester 13.1 
			 South East total  290.2 
			
			 South West Bristol 14.0 
			  Channings Wood 14.2 
			  Dartmoor 14.3 
			  Dorchester 6.7 
			  Eastwood Park 10.4 
			  Erlestoke 9.5 
			  Exeter U.6 
			  Gloucester 8.1 
			  Guys Marsh 10.5 
			  Leyhill 9.5 
			  Portland 13.4 
			  Shepton Mallet 5.4 
			  Verne (The) 10.1 
			 South West total  137.4 
			
			 Wales Cardiff 14.7 
			  Swansea 8.5 
			  Usk 6.9 
			 Wales total  30.0 
			
			 West Midlands Birmingham 27.4 
			  Brinsford 14.2 
			  Drake Hall 7.4 
			  Featherstone 13.2 
			  Hewell 26.0 
			  Shrewsbury 7.8 
			  Stafford 13.4 
			  Stoke Heath 15.5 
			  Swinfen Hall 13.3 
			  Werrington 6.4 
			 West Midlands total  144.6 
			
			 Yorkshire and Humberside Askham Grange 2.8 
			  Everthorpe 1U 
			  Hull 18.6 
			  Leeds 21.4 
			  Lindholme 16.3 
			  Lindholme IND 1.3 
			  Moorland 18.5 
			  New Hall 12.9 
			  Northallerton 5.0 
			  Wealstun 15.6 
			  Wetherby 14.3 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside total  137.8 
			
			 Grand total  1,784.1 
		
	
	The National Offender Management Service is currently in the process of finalising budget allocations for 2011-12. Once we have completed this process we will look to provide firm establishment budget allocations for 2011-12 financial year.

Prison Service: Manpower

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate his Department has made of the likely change in the Prison Service staff complement in each  (a) region and  (b) establishment in 2011-12.

Crispin Blunt: The National Offender Management Service is currently in the process of finalising budget allocations for 2011-12. Once we have completed this process we will able to provide an indication of staff complements by  (a) region and  (b) establishment.

Prison Service: Redundancy

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate his Department has made of the number of Prison Service redundancies in each  (a) region and  (b) establishment in 2011-12.

Crispin Blunt: The National Offender Management Service is currently in the process of finalising budget allocations for 2011-12. Once we have completed this process we will able to provide an indication of staff complements by  (a) region and  (b) establishment and the number of staff above natural wastage we will need to lose.

Prisons: Email

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for what reasons prisons do not receive enquiries by email; when the decision was taken that prisons could not be contacted by email; and if he will review the merits of this position.

Crispin Blunt: Individual members of staff in prisons each have e-mail addresses and do receive and reply to e-mails. For each establishment to have a general e-mail address would involve IT and staffing costs disproportionate to the benefits. There are various other ways to contact prisons. The Prison Service website:
	www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk
	provides telephone numbers for each establishment, the public enquiry e-mail address:
	public.enquiries@noms.gov.uk
	will provide assistance in contacting the right person in an establishment as will the NOMS public enquiry telephone line (0300 047 6325), and the Ministry of Justice helpline (0203 334 3555) has an option to connect to the NOMS public enquiry line. The Prisoner Location Service is able to provide information on the whereabouts of individual prisoners:
	prisoner.location.service@noms.gsi.gov.uk

Theft

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what items with a value of over £100 have been taken without authorisation from his Department since his appointment; and what steps have been taken to recover such items.

Jonathan Djanogly: The Department does not have a central record itemising assets taken without authorisation with a value of over £100. This information is recorded at a local level and it would incur a disproportionate cost to obtain the data requested.
	The Department does record details of the losses of IT and telephony equipment and 34 laptops and 42 BlackBerrys, each valued over £100, have been taken during the period specified.
	All MoJ laptops and BlackBerrys are encrypted and protected with a complex password and all BlackBerrys that are registered as lost or stolen are blocked remotely, making it impossible for them to be used. MOJ also implements security incident management procedures to ensure that the impacts of incidents are risk managed and investigations are undertaken to seek, where possible, to retrieve lost/stolen assets.
	The Ministry of Justice adopts government security policy framework requirements to securely protect its assets.

Third Sector

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department provided to each charity it funds in each of the last five years; and how much he has allocated for funding to each such charity in each of the next five years.

Kenneth Clarke: The Ministry of Justice was created in May 2007, bringing together the former Department for Constitutional Affairs and part of the Home Office. All figures given are from that date.
	The MoJ funds a large number of groups, including registered charities, voluntary and community groups. It would incur disproportionate costs to research each organisation to check its charitable status to disclose the funding given.
	The final figures for third sector funding by the MoJ and its executive agencies in 2010-11 are still being compiled and will be published in the 2010-11 resource accounts. Future funding for these organisations is still to be finalised for 2011-12 onwards-this is still being determined following the spending review 2010 allocation in December 2010.
	However, the following information about grants given by the MoJ and its executive agencies to third sector organisations is available:
	
		
			  Organisation  2009-10 (£ million) 
			 MoJ HQ 81 
			 NOMS 4.5 
		
	
	Approximately half of this went to Victim Support. The rest was given to organisations who support survivors of domestic assault, sexual abuse and rape. Other organisations receiving grants work to reduce crime, support those affected by crime, mediation services and debt advice.
	Prior to 2009-10, the resource accounts included both the grant in aid to the MoJ's non-departmental public bodies along with grants to third sector organisations in the same category.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Carbon Generation

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what plans he has to encourage the development of small-scale low-carbon generation by community organisations.

Gregory Barker: The coalition is committed to supporting community ownership of a wide range of renewable energy technologies.
	To drive this agenda forward, we launched Community Energy Online to give better advice and introduced the Renewable Heat Incentive which will significantly add to the financial support already available from feed-in tariffs. Officials are also developing a series of workshops to deliver progress on the ground.

Marine Renewable Technologies

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when plans to he has to provide support for the development of marine renewable technologies.

Gregory Barker: Our new UK Marine Energy Programme will accelerate the development and deployment of marine renewable technologies at commercial scale.
	We are currently considering the allocation of new funding for wave and tidal technologies, in addition to the review of the renewables obligation, and will announce our decisions by the summer.

Energy Efficiency

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to encourage the adoption of energy efficiency measures in public and private sector workplaces.

Gregory Barker: When the Prime Minister pledged that this would be the 'greenest government ever' he also committed central Government to lead by example by reducing its own emissions by 10% within 12 months. I chair the Whitehall Working Group and we are making good progress but we need to go further across the public sector.
	To help the private sector the Energy Bill will extend the Green Deal to businesses, making new finance available, which will be especially valuable to smaller firms.

Energy Use

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to enable consumers to make informed choices about energy use.

Charles Hendry: The Energy Bill includes powers to legislate to give customers greater control over their energy costs by requiring energy suppliers to inform consumers about the cheapest available tariff. We are also looking at how best to provide information on how consumers' consumption compares to that of similar households.

Renewable Heat Incentive

Stephen Mosley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the likely contribution of the renewable heat incentive to reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Gregory Barker: We have calculated that the Renewable Heat Incentive, the first scheme of its kind in the world, will achieve cumulative carbon dioxide savings of 44 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2020, equivalent to the annual emissions from 20 new gas-fired power stations.

Energy Supplies

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to ensure security of energy supplies.

Charles Hendry: In the short and medium term, our energy supplies are secure. However, we are not complacent.
	We are taking a range of actions, including through electricity market reform and the national policy statements, to provide the right environment for investment.
	Additionally, we have a provision in the Energy Bill that will reduce the likelihood of a gas supply emergency;
	The Government remain vigilant, and we are carefully following international developments, in Japan, in the middle east, and more generally, in case there are actions to be taken or lessons to be learned.

Carbon Sequestration

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether funding can be allocated to a project under the Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration Programme in advance of statutory project consents being secured.

Charles Hendry: Any award of funding under the Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration Programme would be contingent upon a project securing all necessary permissions for its development, although this may not preclude assistance to ascertain the detailed cost of a project.

Carbon Sequestration

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what consultation with  (a) local communities,  (b) local authorities and  (c) other local and national parties will take place prior to allocating funding from the Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration Programme.

Charles Hendry: Funding from the Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration Programme will be awarded to projects following a robust and transparent selection process, with projects assessed against Government objectives for the programme and value for money. Local communities, local authorities, other local and national parties have had the opportunity to comment on our proposed approach following the publication of the further information document ('UK CCS Commercial Scale Demonstration Programme: Delivering Projects 2-4 (Further Information)"') last December.

Carbon Sequestration

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what mechanism he has put in place to ensure that the potential effects on the environment and local communities of projects considered for funding under the Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration Programme are taken into account before a decision is made.

Charles Hendry: Carbon Capture and Storage projects are complex industrial developments and will be subject to a number of consenting, regulatory and policy requirements, which take into account the local impacts of a project.
	Any provision of funding under the Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration Programme is contingent on a project securing all necessary permissions for its development, although may not preclude work to ascertain the detailed cost of a project.

Departmental Redundancy

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many civil servants in his Department have been offered voluntary redundancy since April 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has not offered any of its civil servants voluntary redundancy since April 2010.

Electricity Generation

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his policy is on the sale by energy companies of generation capacity.

Charles Hendry: The UK currently has an energy only market, where energy companies buy and sell electricity rather than generation capacity. In its Electricity Market Reform Consultation, DECC published a number of policy options for a capacity mechanism. These included options that would in principle enable generation capacity as well as energy to play a role in the market. The consultation closed on 10 March and DECC is evaluating responses with a view to publishing a White Paper before summer recess.

Energy: Housing

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the potential effects on the implementation of the Green Deal of the application of variable rates of value added tax to different energy-saving materials.

Gregory Barker: A 5% rate of VAT is already available on a large number of the energy-saving products, such as insulation, that are likely to qualify for Green Deal financing.
	We have commissioned research to assess the impact that pricing, including VAT rates, could have on consumer demand. The research will be completed prior to this autumn's consultation on the Green Deal secondary legislation.

Energy: Prices

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will request energy companies to introduce a uniform basic tariff for electricity and gas costs incurred by consumers.

Charles Hendry: Energy tariffs are a matter for Ofgem which recently announced the findings of its Review of Retail Markets. This found that complex pricing structures and an increase in the number of tariffs are contributing to lower consumer engagement and proposed restricting the number of standard "evergreen" tariffs to one per payment method with readily comparable simple unit prices.
	We welcome Ofgem's proposals for strong action to empower consumers through better information and simpler tariffs. A copy of their Retail Market Review-Findings and Initial Proposals is available online at:
	http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Markets/RetMkts/rmr/Documents1/RMR_FINAL.pdf

Energy: Sales

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will amend the provisions of Standard Licence Condition 7a on the sale of energy contracts to micro businesses and small business to bring them into line with the licence conditions governing sales to residential consumers.

Charles Hendry: Licensing is a matter for Ofgem and we welcome their recently announced consultation, included in their Retail Market Review Findings and Proposals report, on whether the levels of protection proposed for domestic consumers in this area should be extended to the non domestic sector. A copy of this report can be found online at:
	http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Markets/RetMkts/rmr/Documents1/RMR_FINAL.pdf
	The consultation questions are on page 57.

National Grid

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his policy is on the loss of energy through transmission in the National Grid.

Charles Hendry: The Government recognise the importance of keeping transmission losses to a minimum. Minimising losses reduces the amount of electricity that needs to be produced, in turn, resulting in lower carbon emissions and other costs. National Grid is incentivised to minimise transmission losses as part of its annual System Operator incentive scheme set by Ofgem. In addition, Ofgem is considering whether further incentives should be placed on Transmission Owners in the next Transmission Price Control Review (2013-21) to help reduce losses and how these would operate. This will be covered in Ofgem's Strategy Decision Document, due to be published on 30 March 2011.

Stress

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what arrangements are in place in his Department to  (a) reduce levels of work-based stress and  (b) provide assistance to staff diagnosed with such stress.

Gregory Barker: DECC is committed to protecting the health, safety and welfare of our employees. The Department recognises that workplace stress is a health and safety issue and acknowledges the importance of identifying and reducing workplace stressors. The arrangements to reduce workplace stress include:
	Information on stress, including how to recognise it and a manager's checklist, is available on the HR intranet.
	Links on the Health and Safety pages of the intranet to the HSE guidance and sources of support. DECC use the HSE Management Standards website to follow the comprehensive information to assist in reducing and tackling work related stress.
	All staff have the tools and opportunity to work flexibly subject to normal work requirements, and this helps enable a better work-life balance.
	A one day course to share, change experiences and learn techniques to manage personal stress is available to staff.
	The Employee Assistance Programme is dedicated information and counselling support service for staff and offers help and assistance for those who may feel they are suffering from adverse levels of stress. This is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
	If a member of staff is diagnosed with stress, additional one to one help is available and may include an Occupational Health referral to gain medical advice.

Wind Power

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  if he will estimate the proportion of wind turbines installed in the UK which use direct drive technology derived from rare earth metals; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the environmental effects of the manufacture of direct drive technology for use in wind turbines; and if he will make a statement.

Charles Hendry: I understand that the proportion of wind turbines installed in the UK which use direct drive technology derived from rare earth metals is negligible (less than 1%)-and only 4% to 5% of turbines worldwide use this technology.
	I refer the hon. Lady to the answer I gave her on 4 March 2011,  Official Report, column 616W, regarding the assessment of the environmental effects of the use of rare earth metals in wind turbines.
	My officials are in regular contact with wind developers and turbine manufacturers as well as renewable trade associations and will continue to keep this issue under review.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Aimhigher Programme

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many potential students were reached by Aim Higher in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: holding answer 22 March 2011
	Aimhigher is managed by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). HEFCE have provided the following information on the number of potential students reached by Aimhigher.
	In 2009-10 Aimhigher reached 1,210,362 potential students. Due to changes in the monitoring procedures adopted by Aimhigher partnerships, comparable figures for previous years are not available.

Beer: Competition

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions his Department has had with  (a) representatives of (i) pub companies, (ii) breweries, (iii) pub licensees and (iv) consumers,  (b) the Campaign for Real Ale and  (c) other interested parties on the (A) beer tie and (B) voluntary reform of the pub industry.

Edward Davey: holding answer 22 March 2011
	The Department, has recently had discussions with representatives from the Independent Pub Confederation, the British Institute of Innkeeping, the British Beer and Pub Association and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, in its role of monitoring the pub industry's progress towards self-reform, as set out by the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee.
	The Office of Fair Trading's final decision on the Campaign for Real Ale's (CAMRA) super complaint regarding beer ties concluded that the pub sector in the UK is competitive overall and it has not found evidence of competition problems that are having a significant adverse impact on consumers.

Beer: Competition

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what consideration he has given to the implementation of a statutory industry code of practice for the pub industry.

Edward Davey: holding answer 22 March 2011
	The Government are currently monitoring the industry's progress towards self-reform within the timeframe set out by the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee.

Business: Higher Education

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant the answer of 27 January 2011,  Official Report, columns 485-86W, on business: higher education, how many businesses participated in funding partnerships with universities through  (a) the Research Council's Pathways to Impact,  (b) HEFCE's Research Excellence Framework,  (c) the Higher Education Innovation Funding and  (d) ongoing collaboration between the Research Councils and the Technology Strategy Board in each of the last five years; how many businesses he expects to participate in such partnerships in each of the next three years; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: holding answer 15 March 2011
	Research Council Pathways to Impact are not a system for allocating separate funding. The first Research Excellence Framework assessment will be in 2014. Higher Education Innovation Funding is allocated to higher education institutions to support their interactions with business and other users. Higher Education Business and Community Innovation Survey data on the number of university contracts with businesses are available at:
	http://www.hefce.ac.uk/econsoc/buscom/hebci/
	Collaborations between business and academe are enabled through a range of activities by the Technology Strategy Board, not all of which involve funding partnership with the research councils. Overall, through its support for Collaborative Research and Development (R and D) projects, the Technology Strategy Board has provided support to approximately 1,500 unique businesses and about 2/3 of projects have at least one academic partner (more may have academic sub-contractors). Furthermore, there are currently over 1,000 live Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, and each of these is a partnership between business and the knowledge base, a majority of which will be higher education institutes. Such partnerships are likely to continue going forward, but it would not be possible to specify numbers as projects as individual collaborative R and D projects can range from £10,000 to £100 million, and are funded on the basis of their technical and economic merit with no pre-set targets for the number of partnerships.

Education: English Language

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what representations he has received from providers of English for Speakers of Other Languages courses on his proposals to change the fee remission rate in England;
	(2)  what recent estimate he has made of the number of students on English for Speakers of Other Languages courses in receipt of full fee remission who would be eligible for his proposed 50 per cent. fee remission rate;
	(3)  what recent estimate he has made of the total savings to his Department from the removal of full fee remission for students on English for Speakers of Other Languages courses in each of the next three years.

John Hayes: Ministers receive a significant number of representations from further education providers, many of whom deliver English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses and have taken the opportunity to discuss changes to fee remission including ESOL.
	From August 2011, full Government funding will be provided for ESOL to unemployed people in receipt of jobseeker's allowance or in the Employment and Support Allowance (Work-Related Activity) Group, where English language skills have been identified as a barrier to entering employment. We will also continue to pay 50% of ESOL course fees for people who are settled here. We will no longer fund ESOL courses delivered in the workplace.
	The equality impact assessment published alongside "Skills for Sustainable Growth" (November 2010) found that, at the aggregate level, there are unlikely to be disproportionate impacts on protected groups. A separate assessment of how the changes may affect ESOL learners is currently being carried out by this Department, and I expect to be able to publish the assessment in due course.

Higher Education: Admissions

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many funded places there were for each foundation degree course at each higher education institution in each of the last five years; and how many places there will be in each of the next three years.

David Willetts: The latest available information from the Higher Education Funding Council for England will be placed in the Libraries of the House. Historical figures are not available at an individual course level; the figures show the total number of HEFCE-funded and non-HEFCE-funded foundation degree students in English higher education institutions and further education colleges from 2006-07 to 2010-11. Information on the number of foundation degree places in each of the next three years is not available as we do not plan for the number of students at a course or subject level. The actual number of places on foundation degree courses will depend on the decisions of individual institutions and students.

Higher Education: Admissions

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many potential students were reached under University Access Agreements in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: holding answer 22 March 2011
	This is a matter for the Director of Fair Access. The Office for Fair Access have confirmed that the director makes no assessment of the number of potential students reached through the additional outreach activities undertaken by institutions through their access agreements.
	The Director of Fair Access publishes annual monitoring reports setting out the outcomes of the Office for Fair Access' annual monitoring of access agreements. The latest report is for 2008/09 and is available at:
	www.offa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/05_Offa-Access-monitoring.pdf
	The report for 2009/10 will be published in a few months.

Higher Education: Autism

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assistance his Department provides to individuals with autism and related conditions who wish to go to university; and what plans he has for such assistance over the comprehensive spending review period.

David Willetts: As part of widening participation, the Government provide financial support to disabled students in higher education (HE). They are supported via (i) the institution they attend and (ii) individually through disabled students' allowances (DSAs).
	The Government provide funding to HE institutions, through the Higher Education Funding Council for England, to help them recruit and support disabled students; £13.2 million has been provided in academic year 2010/11. Universities wanting to charge more than a £6,000 annual graduate contribution will have to demonstrate to the director of Fair Access what more they will do to attract a higher proportion of students from under-represented groups, including students with disabilities.
	In addition, DSAs are available to help individual students in HE with the extra costs they may incur on their course because of a disability, including autism and related conditions. In academic year 2010/11 eligible undergraduate students may receive the following:
	
		
			  £ 
			  Allowance  Maximum payable to eligible full-time undergraduates  Maximum payable to eligible part-time undergraduates 
			 Specialist equipment allowance (for the duration of the course) 5,161 5,161 
			 Non-medical helper allowance 20,520 15,390 
			 General allowance 1,724 1,293 
			 Travel allowance (1)- (1)- 
			 (1) Unlimited 
		
	
	For postgraduate students (full or part-time) there is one allowance to meet all costs, up to £10,260 in 2010/11.
	DSAs do not depend on income and do not have to be repaid. They are paid in addition to the standard student finance package; we have no plans to change that.

Students

Pat McFadden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many undergraduate students are normally resident in Wolverhampton South East constituency; and what proportion of the 18 to 21 year-olds resident in the constituency this figure represents.

David Willetts: The latest data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) shows there were 1,660 undergraduate enrolments from Wolverhampton South East parliamentary constituency in UK higher education institutions in the 2009/10 academic year. The Department does not hold population statistics at constituency level, therefore the proportion of 18 to 21-year-olds which this figure represents cannot be provided. Comparable figures for students studying higher education courses in further education colleges are not available.

Students: Fees and Charges

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 16 March 2011,  Official Report, column 439W, on students: fees and charges, when he plans to publish the equality impact assessment on the package of reforms to higher education funding and student finance; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: The equality impact assessment on the package of reforms to higher education funding and student finance was published on 29 November 2010.

Students: Fees and Charges

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the likely cost to his Department of the information campaign on the increase in annual tuition fees in 2012-13; what the cost will be of hiring an advertising agency to undertake the campaign; what the budget will be for the production of press, radio and online advertisements; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: The Department considers it essential to ensure that prospective students and their families know about the full package of support available, to support access to higher education. This Department is working with the Central Office of Information to develop an effective and proportionate information campaign.
	We have invited proposals from creative agencies to support this campaign and expect their costs to be in the region of £150,000, including their charges for production of press and online advertisements. The budget for chosen media is yet to be determined.

Third Sector

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department has taken to support the big society initiative.

Edward Davey: Department for Business innovation and Skills has several programmes aimed at achieving the big society goals of catalysing social action, decentralising power and opening up public services and which will support the growth agenda. These include:
	proposals for the possible mutualisation of Post Office Ltd (POL) with the potential to give sub postmasters, staff and communities a much greater say in the ownership and running of the Post Office;
	improvements to guidance and tools on Businesslink.gov.uk to: (a) help businesses and other organisations to make appropriate choices about legal form and ownership model (including in the context of public service reform and support for social enterprise); and (b) encourage businesses to consider employee ownership and other mutual models; and
	creating a single, cohesive network of mentoring providers for the first time in the UK, bringing together at least 40,000 mentors.

Third Sector

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether  (a) he and  (b) Ministers in his Department are participating in volunteering activities as part of his Department's involvement in the big society initiative.

Edward Davey: My ministerial colleagues and I support and encourage volunteering through our policy responsibilities, in our constituencies, and by participating in some personal activities. We also encourage our staff to participate in volunteering by offering guidance and special paid time off. As the lead Minister for Every Business Commits in the Government, I am talking to business and our stakeholders about how we can do more to support communities and encourage social action such as volunteering.

Further Education: Manpower

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many  (a) full-time and  (b) part-time lecturers were employed in the further education sector (i) nationally and (ii) in the west midlands in each of the last three years.

John Hayes: holding answer 22 March 2011
	The numbers of full and part-time FE teaching staff employed in England and in the west midlands in each of the last three years are set out in the following tables:
	
		
			  National 
			   Full-time  Part-time 
			 2007/08 51,380 87,694 
			 2008/09 49,912 90,410 
			 2009/10 46,436 81,154 
			  Note: Mode was unknown for 1,021 staff in 2007-08, 619 staff in 2008-09 and 1,553 staff in 2009-2010. These staff have been excluded from the table. 
		
	
	
		
			  West  m idlands 
			   Full-time  Part-time 
			 2007/08 6,606 11,644 
			 2008/09 6,539 11,629 
			 2009/10 5,930 10,767 
			  Note: Mode was unknown for 246 staff in 2007-08, eight staff in 2008-09 and 29 staff in 2009-10. These staff have been excluded from the table.  Source: Staff Individualised Record Data 
		
	
	 Note:
	The occupational category 'providing teaching and promoting learning' is used to derive the primary role of each member of staff from the proportion of time that a member of staff spends on this activity. This definition varies slightly to that used in the annual SIR report so staff numbers may vary slightly between these sources.